Six Hirak Detainees Renounce Moroccan Citizenship

Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
TT

Six Hirak Detainees Renounce Moroccan Citizenship

Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

After months, Nasser Zefzafi – head Of Hoceima movement – and five of his friends announced in a statement renouncing their Moroccan citizenship as an objection over their arrest.

«An official request has been sent by the detainees to the Minister of Justice and the President of the Public Prosecutor's Office. Do not take it lightly», Ahmed Zefzafi, Nasser's father said in a Facebook live video.

Ahmed conveyed the letter of the six detainees who are serving sentences ranging between 15 to 20 years over Hoceima protests in 2017. They renounced their Moroccan citizenship and requested that the international community bears its responsibility towards them.

Nasser's father defended them saying that those corrupt should be arrested, instead. He described the detainees’ decision as ‘dangerous’, saying that their demand to renounce the nationality is the last thing they could do to be heard.

Ahmed addressed King Mohammed VI, appealing for a release of the detainees.



Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 1 Building Destroyed

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
TT

Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 1 Building Destroyed

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Powerful Israeli airstrikes targeted central Beirut on Saturday, resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroying an eight-story building, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Footage broadcast by TV stations showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it in the Basta neighborhood.

Israel used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, said NNA. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives hours after the attack.
The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m.

NNA said at least five bombs were dropped in the attack.
It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel's attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.

On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

The Israeli military did not issue a warning for Basta's residents to evacuate prior to the strike and did not immediately issue a statement on it.

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants was ongoing in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops have pushed farther from the border.