By Samantha Netzband

Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter

RABAT, Morocco– Protests have rocked Morocco after fish seller Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed to death in a city garbage truck.  Fikri, dove into the truck after municipal workers confiscated his swordfish and threw it away.  It is illegal to catch and sell swordfish during the current season.  The fish that was confiscated is was estimated to be worth a large sum of money.

Moroccans protest in Rabat. (Photo Courtesy of Thomson Reuters)

Protests are extremely rare in Morocco and this protest has paralleled the 2010 death of a fruit seller in  Tunisia.  The protest that followed the fruit seller’s death in Tunisia eventually lead to the Arab Spring in that country.  Many protesters that are taking to the street to protest the death of Fikri are shouting “hogra” which is a term for abuse and injustice.

The Moroccan royalty, which has managed to prevent any Arab Spring like protests from consuming the government, is growing irritated with the protests that are not ending.  Morocco is seen across the world as a progressive North African country and is welcoming the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November.  The “February 20 Movement” which started Arab Spring like protests in Morocco in 2011 is said to be taking advantage of the current protests to show the Moroccan people that the government still does not care for its people.  The King of Morocco has visited Fikri’s family in hopes of smoothing over the feeling of ill will in the country.

For more information, please see: 

Al Jazeera – Fishmonger’s Gruesome Death Sparks Protests in Morocco – 31 October 2016

BBC News – Morocco Protests: Death of Fish Seller Triggers Rare Demonstrations – 30 October 2016

Thomson Reuters – Morocco protesters take to streets again over Fishmonger’s death – 31 October 2016

Thomson Reuters – Protests at fishmonger’s death test Moroccan monarchy nerves – 3 November 2016