157 people arrested throughout Morocco, many of them are minors.
On Saturday evening, in Rabat in the middle of the night of Ashoura, unacceptable scenes of rock-throwing and firecrackers shooting took place in the district of Yaacoub El Mansour on the side of the coastal road. Groups of young and old alike attacked the police who had intervened to prevent them from setting fire to a pile of user tires accumulated for the famous Chaâïla. These festive fires and ritual are very polluting and very dangerous.
These unacceptable scenes in the capital of the Kingdom during which the forces of law have been seriously attacked have brought back to the table the sensitive issue of fireworks that continue to overwhelm the national market even during the period of Covid-19.
As a reminder, last Friday Opinion had requested the Moroccan customs in this regard, which had told us that these dangerous products enter Morocco very legally under authorizations issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to three companies.
These scenes in Rabat, as well as in other cities that reveal a deep discomfort and serious problems, call for concrete action to put in order in this chaotic market. It should be noted that the same fiery scenes, this time without violence against the forces of law and order, took place on the same evening in Casablanca.
We have contacted the police to validate the videos of these scenes and to know more about the circumstances and the outcome of the incidents of Saturday night in Rabat, we are still waiting for the response. In the meantime, a press release issued on Sunday by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), informs that security operations carried out by the security services at the national level, in the night of Saturday to Sunday, as part of the implementation of measures to ban public gatherings on the public streets related to the celebration of Ashura festivities, allowed “the arrest of 157 individuals, including minors, for their alleged involvement in acts of vandalism, stone throwing, resistance to the elements of the public forces and burning of tires on the public highway”.
During these operations, 17 police officers and 11 members of the public forces were injured by stone throwing and firecrackers, according to a statement from the DGSN. The DGSN also reported material damage, the destruction of the windshields of eight vehicles of the National Security Services and two cars of the local authorities, as well as material damage to several cars and private property.
Proactive security operations have led to the seizure of dozens of tires and nearly 1,000 fireworks and firecrackers intended for this celebration, adds the same source.
“The major suspects were placed in police custody while the minors were placed under surveillance at the disposal of the investigation conducted by the Judicial Police under the supervision of the competent prosecutors’ offices to determine the criminal acts they are accused of,” the statement concludes.
Be the first to comment