RABAT, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Up to 1,000 people took on the streets on Sunday in Morocco's largest city of Casablanca to demand freedom for activists arrested for involvement in protests in the northeastern region of the country since a year ago.
Organized by left-wing parties, human rights groups and civil society organizations, the protesters rallied to ask for an end to the hundreds of trials for the detainees in the city of Al Hoceima and its neighboring towns in the northeastern Rif region.
"We are here to demand the immediate release of the detainees and an open debate on their requests, and above all to fight the corruption that deteriorates the Rif region," said Nabila Mounib, president of the Federation of the Democratic Left.
The demonstration was the latest of a wave of protests demanding the liberation of activists participating in the protest in Rif.
Several leading figures of the protests are expected to go on trial on Oct. 17 in Casablanca, however, the trial date has not been set for Nasser Zefzafi, the movement leader who faces charge of undermining state security.
The situation in Al Hoceima has been tense since October 2016, when fish vendor Mouhcine Fikri was crushed to death after climbing into a rubbish lorry to retrieve his swordfish confiscated by police.
The demand for justice for Fikri in the northeastern region has evolved into a major grassroots movement to protest against the delay in the implementation of scheduled projects and requesting greater government investment to create more jobs.
In 2015, Morocco launched the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean," a large-scale development program in Al Hoceima, but many of its projects have been marred by delays.
Earlier this month, an official investigation committee revealed that many development projects in Al Hoceima witnessed "delay or failure", while excluding any act of embezzlement or fraud.
Disappointed by the delays, Morocco's King Mohammed VI cancelled in late June the vacations of ministers concerning the implementation of the development program, and set up a committee to investigate officials responsible for the delays.
