'I'll do like Bouazizi': Moroccan Hirak Rif activist threatens to set himself on fire after 'unfair' trial

A Moroccan activist has threatened to set himself on fire and become "the second Bouazizi" after he was sentenced to four years in jail for "offending the king." 

On Monday, the court of El Hoceima in north Morocco sentenced Rabie Al Ablaq, a Hirak Rif activist, to four years in jail and a fine of 20,000 MAD ($US 2,000) on charges of offending the King of Morocco.

Soon after the court's ruling, the thirty-five-year-old activist appeared live on his account on Facebook, sharing his location and threatening to become "the new Bouazizi" if arrested and his sentence is carried out.

"I am here in my café (...) I am not running anywhere. Though I swear if they come to arrest me I am putting this body on fire and doing what Bouazizi has done(...) I did not steal nor kill to be jailed for four years," said Al Ablaq during a live stream yesterday.

ربيع الابلق بعد الحكم عليه ب4 سنوات يقول إنه سيجعل من نفسه بوعزيزي ثاني.
أنا أعرف جيدا ما يشعر به ربيع الظلم يولد اليأس، حكى لي في حوار بعد خروجه من السجن أنه كان يضرب عن الطعام لأنه يريد أن يموت لا أن يحقق مطالب.
ربيع ليس مجرما هو شاب يعبر عن آرائه ويتحدث عن الظلم الذي تعرض له. pic.twitter.com/PSFFWVBWVz

— هاجر الريسوني hajar raissouni (@hajarraissounu) April 25, 2022

Bouazizi was a Tunisian vegetable and fruits vendor who set himself on fire in public in 2011 after the police had confiscated his cart. His act ignited a wide uprising in Tunisia that in turn inspired the rest of the Arab world to protest against corruption and injustice. 

Charges against Al-Ablaq are based on two videos the activist posted last year on Facebook and YouTube, in which he addressed the Moroccan king as "Mr Mohamed Alaoui, who occupies the position of King of Morocco." A term that some might consider 'insulting,' in a country where the constitution imposes a "duty of reverence and respect" for the king, who is usually addressed as "his majesty."

Al-Ablaq has also said that "the king and the Moroccan Prime minister Akhannouch are both billionaires," and questioned how they obtained their fortunes, asking whether it was a result of "plunder."

Moroccan activists and journalists voiced their support for Al-Ablaq, who was a key figure in the Hirak Rif protests that erupted in the north of Morocco in 2016.

Hajar Raissouni, a Moroccan journalist who was jailed in 2020 for an illegal abortion, said that she can feel "the injustice and despair he feels". 

"Rabie is not a criminal. He is a young man who expresses his views and talks about the injustice he has been subjected to," she added in a tweet on Monday.

أفكّر في أمّ ربيع الأبلق، الذي أدين اليوم بأربع سنوات حبسًا نافذًا (لازال في حالة سراح)، والذي قال في فيديو نشره قبل قليل إنّه سيكرّر نموذج البوعزيزي في منطقة الريف المغربية. والله العظيم عيب وعار ما يقع في هذا البلد! المعارضة والصحافة المستقلة ونشطاء حقوق الإنسان يعيشون الرُّعب. pic.twitter.com/kNlZPnNftK

— Abdellatif El Hamamouchi عبد اللطيف الحماموشي (@AHamamouchi) April 25, 2022

Abdellatif El Hamamouchi, a Moroccan journalist and member of the Central Office of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), also declared support for the activist. 

"The opposition, independent press and human rights activists [in Morocco] live in terror," he wrote on Twitter.

The Moroccan council of human rights has yet to react to the trial.

In 2017, Al-Ablaq was sentenced to five years in prison for "spreading false news" and "usurping the title of journalist," due to his vocal support for Hirak protests on different websites.

He received a royal pardon three years later after conducting many hunger strikes.

Last week, Human Rights Watch called on the Moroccan government to drop the charges against Al-Ablaq and slammed Rabat's censorship of freedom of speech.

"In Morocco, the vibrant independent press of the 2000s is only a distant memory. Now the [Moroccan] authorities' policy seems to be summed up in the Moroccan proverb: Speak, and you'll bleed from the nose," said HRW in its latest report on Morocco.

In 2019, some 500 journalists and civil and human rights activists were detained or prosecuted in Morocco for expressing their opinions, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights.