PRESS RELEASE: Exclusive Video From Sale 2 Prison: Mouad Irchad "Truths Hidden Behind Prison Walls" 26-08-2013 In an extremely bold move, Mouad Irchad, a Moroccan political prisoner currently held in the notorious Sale 2 prison, published a video via Justice Morocco exposing the reality of imprisonment in the Kingdom of Morocco. He begins this video by mentioning his education credentials, and his current profession in the field of programming. During his extremely short career he worked for a number of companies in developing their systems and databases, eventually gaining enough experience to set up his own business in computing, only to be arrested soon after he completed all the necessary paperwork. Mouad Irchad dedicated much of the video in describing in detail the situation of numerous detainees whom he has lived alongside since his detention over a year and a half ago. Amongst these detainees is the Belgian national Ali Aarrass, who is described to be a middle aged man who still bears the signs of torture on his body, though years have passed since they were inflicted. In a particular situation a guard mockingly asked Ali does he still bear the signs of torture which enraged him. Ali Aarrass is growing ever weaker due to his prolonged imprisonment and due to allergies he developed behind bars. In an extremely saddening case, Mouad Irchad explains how an elderly Algerian man by the name of Ahmed Binmiloud, who was traumatised by the sentence he was given eventually leading to his death. Ahmed was not given the opportunity to defend himself by the judge who sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment. Ahmed refused to eat thereafter for 70 days resulting in his death in appalling circumstances. Mouad Irchad narrates a number of extraordinary cases, such as the "Students Cell", in which the lead suspect was sent to prison for inciting Al-Zarqawi to commit acts of terror. The sad irony is that this young man was only 12 when Al-Zarqawi was killed. Also, he mentions the peculiar case of "The Movement of Moroccan Mujahideen", which is composed of a group of elderly men, of a similar age to his grandparents as Mouad describes. These elderly men are from extremely simple backgrounds, in fact one of them is disable and has had one of his legs amputated. Mouad asserts that their pictures have not been publicised in the media although there was enormous media coverage of the case because no one would believe the claims of the prosecution if they saw their faces. Mouad continues to mention how he came across an individual found guilty of contacting Al-Qaeda via the "Islam way" website which has no affiliations to the group whatsoever. The shocking reality of the Moroccan prisons is further exposed by Mouad, who explains how he was blindfolded and was bound, before being struck across the face and head with a shoe during interrogations until he would pass out. He also mentioned how he was threatened directly by the chief of the "National Brigade of the Judicial Police" Abdul Haq Khayyam who explained how he would be taken to Temera secret detention centre. Abdul Haq Khayyam also clarified that if Mouad did not cooperate his younger brother would not be released, thus Mouad was forced to film a number of false confessions. However his younger brother was never released and instead sentenced alongside his elder brother in the same case. The very same AbdulHaq Khayyam was the one who stood by the lead suspect in the Argana bombing, Adil Al-Othmani, during the re-enactment of the crime as stated by Mouad Irchad. Mouad Irchad sent out a strong message in his video to the government, expressing his dismay at the situation of prisoners in Morocco. He has taken great risk in publishing this video, which takes tremendous faith and bravery. We at Justice Morocco place the responsibility for the well being of Mouad Irchad squarely on the shoulders of the Moroccan security apparatus, and ask of all rights groups to intervene to bring an end to the suffering of political prisoners in Morocco. Link to the video (In Arabic only): youtu.be/_fiOzTtfABM Link on our website: justicemorocco/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=578:exclusive-video-from-sale-prison-mouad-irchad-truths-hidden-behind-prison-walls&catid=9&Itemid=110&lang=en
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 23:06:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015