Several thousand people took to the streets of Morocco’s northern Rif region to demand the release of the leader of a protest movement.
Nasser Zefzafi, 39, who had been on the run since Friday, was taken into custody on Monday “along with other individuals” and transferred to Casablanca. His arrest was ordered after he allegedly interrupted a preacher at a mosque on Friday and called for further demonstrations.
Protesters came out near the centre of the northern city of al-Hoceima for a fifth straight night on Tuesday, shouting slogans including “we are all Zefzafi” and “end militarisation”.
The protesters, including women and children, held aloft hundreds of pictures of Zefzafi, who has emerged as the leader of the grassroots, al-Hirak al-Shaabi (the Popular Movement).