Moroccan free speech advocate enters 20th day of hunger strike
Monjib started hunger strike to protest a travel ban that has kept him from leaving Morocco in recent months
As an outspoken Moroccan human rights advocate and academic enters the 20th day of a hunger strike in protest of a travel ban against him, a group of international supporters, including Noam Chomsky, are calling for the country's king to intervene.
Maati Monjib, 55, a professor at the African Studies Center in Rabat, attempted to leave Morocco twice during the past year in order to attend academic meetings abroad.
Monjib, a bespeckled, normally chatty historian, was stopped both times by border police who said his name was on a wanted list and was summoned for questioning. Despite being questioned by the police, he did not get arrested either time, according to a statement from Monjib's supporters.
In response, Monjib, who has diabetes and heart disease, began a hunger strike on 6 October. Eight days into the strike, he was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment and supporters say he has experieced two strokes during the protest's duration.
On Saturday, doctors told AFP that he suffers from repeated heart palpitations, severe headaches and symptoms that affect his brain.
On Sunday, American intellectual and activist Chomsky, along with Richard Falk, an international law scholar and former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights and Abdellah Hammoudi, a Moroccan professor of anthopology at Princeton University, sent an open letter to King Mohammed VI, asking for Monjib's "harassment" to end.
"Only you, Majesty, has the power to impose justice in Morocco's administration system," the letter says, referring to smear campaigns, police investigations and accusations they say Monjib has faced.
They call for Monjib's rights to be restored and "to ensure that those same rights are permanently protected for all Moroccan citizens who decide to peacefully speak their minds, assemble and share information without fearing retaliation or threats to their well being".
Defender of press freedom
Monjib's supporters, including his wife, Christiane Darde-Monjib, who called on French President Francois Hollande over the weekend to save her husband's life, believe he is being targetted for his defence of press freedom.
AFP reported that after first denying the travel ban on Monjib - which Morocco's interior ministry later confirmed - was due to "financial violations" while he headed the Ibn Rushd Institute.
The research institute closed in 2014 after the authorities banned several of its activities, including holding meetings between seculars and Islamists.
Monjib's travel ban comes during a period in which Morrooco's journalists and free speech advocates, who spoke with MEE during a week long trip last year, said they face subtle - and not so subtle methods - to muzzle them.
Perhaps the most high-profile case is that of Ali Anouzla who spent 40 days in solitary confinement starting in September 2013 after he published a screen shot and link to the website of the Spanish newspaper El Pais which itself linked to an al-Qaeda video that attacked the king.
Anouzla, charged with inciting and providing material support to terrorism, faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.
During Anouzla's imprisonment, Monjib started Freedom Now, an organisation which pushed for his release. When Anouzla was released in October 2013, Monjib told MEE that the group expanded its focus to push for freedom of expression and the press in the country.
Last year, Monjib told MEE that he had been contacted by two intelligence agents who told him to stop speaking about freedoms in Morocco. He said he left the country for several days after their contact, but then returned.
“I will continue with my same activities and my ideas because I respect the law and I am a citizen and I will continue my work for human rights and freedom,” he said at the time.
النتائج (
العربية) 1:
[نسخ]نسخ!
المدافع المغربي حرية التعبير يدخل 20 يوما من الإضراب عن الطعاممنجب بدأ إضراباً عن الطعام احتجاجا على حظر سفر الذي أبقى عليه من مغادرة المغرب في الأشهر الأخيرةداعية حقوق الإنسان المغربية جرأة والأكاديمية يدخل في اليوم العشرين من الإضراب عن الطعام احتجاجا على حظر السفر ضده، ومجموعة من المؤيدين الدوليين، بما في ذلك نعوم تشومسكي، يدعو ملك البلاد التدخل.معاتي منجب، 55، أستاذ في مركز الدراسات الأفريقية في الرباط، حاولوا مغادرة المغرب مرتين خلال العام الماضي من أجل حضور الاجتماعات الأكاديمية في الخارج. منجب، بيسبيكليد، مؤرخ عادة الشطي، أوقف في المرتين بشرطة الحدود الذي قال أن اسمه على لائحة مطلوبين وقد استدعى للاستجواب. على الرغم من استجوابه من قبل الشرطة، لا الحصول على اعتقاله أما الوقت، وفقا لبيان صادر عن أنصار منجب.ردا على ذلك، منجب، الذي لديه مرض السكري وأمراض القلب، بدأ إضراباً عن الطعام في 6 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر. ثمانية أيام في الإضراب، واقتيد إلى المستشفى للعلاج في حالات الطوارئ ومؤيدي أقول له اكسبيريسيد اثنين من السكتات الدماغية خلال مدة هذا الاحتجاج.يوم السبت، الأطباء لوكالة فرانس برس أنه يعاني من خفقان القلب المتكررة، وصداع شديد، والأعراض التي تؤثر على دماغه.يوم الأحد، الناشط تشومسكي، جنبا إلى جنب مع ريتشارد فولك، علماء القانون الدولي و "المقرر الخاص" السابق في الأمم المتحدة على حقوق الإنسان الفلسطيني وعبد الله حمودي، مغربي أستاذ أنثوبولوجي في جامعة برينستون، والفكرية الأمريكية أرسلت رسالة مفتوحة إلى الملك السادس Mohammed، يسأل عن "التحرش في منجب" لإنهاء."فقط لكم، صاحب الجلالة، السلطة لفرض العدالة في نظام الإدارة في المغرب، الرسالة يقول"، مشيراً إلى تشويه الحملات وتحقيقات الشرطة والاتهامات يقولون واجه منجب.ويدعون لحقوق منجب لاستعادة و "التأكد من أن نفس هذه الحقوق محمية بشكل دائم لجميع المواطنين المغاربة الذين يقررون سلميا الكلام عقولهم، تجميع وتبادل المعلومات دون خشية الانتقام أو التهديدات لسلامتهم". المدافع عن حرية الصحافةأنصار في منجب، بما في ذلك زوجته، كريستيان قلب منجب، الذي دعا فيه الرئيس الفرنسي فرانسوا هولاند نهاية الأسبوع لإنقاذ حياة زوجها، نعتقد أنه يجري مستهدفة لدفاعه عن حرية الصحافة.أفادت وكالة فرانس برس بعد رفض أول حظر السفر على منجب-التي انضم إليها المغرب في وزارة الداخلية أكد في وقت لاحق-وكان نتيجة "مخالفات مالية" بينما كان يرأس معهد ابن رشد.إغلاق معهد بحوث في 2014 بعد أن السلطات منعت العديد من أنشطتها، بما في ذلك عقد اجتماعات بين العلمانيون والاسلاميون.Monjib's travel ban comes during a period in which Morrooco's journalists and free speech advocates, who spoke with MEE during a week long trip last year, said they face subtle - and not so subtle methods - to muzzle them. Perhaps the most high-profile case is that of Ali Anouzla who spent 40 days in solitary confinement starting in September 2013 after he published a screen shot and link to the website of the Spanish newspaper El Pais which itself linked to an al-Qaeda video that attacked the king.Anouzla, charged with inciting and providing material support to terrorism, faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.During Anouzla's imprisonment, Monjib started Freedom Now, an organisation which pushed for his release. When Anouzla was released in October 2013, Monjib told MEE that the group expanded its focus to push for freedom of expression and the press in the country. Last year, Monjib told MEE that he had been contacted by two intelligence agents who told him to stop speaking about freedoms in Morocco. He said he left the country for several days after their contact, but then returned.“I will continue with my same activities and my ideas because I respect the law and I am a citizen and I will continue my work for human rights and freedom,” he said at the time.
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