Educational stop the hunger strike as a journey ban pick up

Moroccan academic Amati Mondi has suspended its three-week hunger strike after authorities completed a travel ban imposed on him. But he was accused of destabilizing State security and could face up to five years in prison.

"I stopped my hunger strike on October 29 after the court's decision to give me back my freedom to travel outside Morocco," 55-year-old Mondi, a professor of political history at the Institute of African Studies at Mohammed V University in Rabat, says in the letter.

"But my battle is not yet over, because I have been summoned to court [of the Tribunal in December Premiere Court of Rabat] on November 19," said Mondi, adding that he was "accused of destabilizing State security based on Article 206 of the Moroccan Penal Code. "

Mondi, who is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the Senegal-based Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa or CODESRIA, was on hunger strike from October 6, after Casablanca airport authorities prevented him from traveling to Norway to attend the seminar August 10.

In September he was summoned by the National Brigade of the Judicial Police and was accused, among other things, to threaten state security.

According to his lawyer Abderrahim Jami, Omni faces charges of receiving foreign funds to destabilize Moroccans confidence in their institutions, as well as endangering national security.

Moroccan authorities said the ban was due to "financial irregularities" that occurred while Omni Institute headed Rushed Bin, who train Moroccan journalists in investigative techniques and civic journalism. Omni reportedly closed the institute in December last year "after repeated intervention by the state," reports AP.

Omni also thanked the local, regional and international support provided to him individually and institutionally. "It is an encouragement for me and was a great support, and I was deeply touched," he said in the letter.

Several international institutions with core mandate to promote academic and intellectual freedom protested against the continued harassment of Omni, including CODESRIA, the Middle East Studies Association and Freedom Now.

International reactions

Defenders of the waterfront, the International Foundation of Ireland for the protection of human rights defenders is "seriously concerned about the allegations against Amati Omni", it said in a statement on 30 October.

The foundation said on November 19 trial Omni and other human rights defenders: "If the charge of" threatening the internal security of the state "is confirmed, Amati Omni, His ham Almeria, Salad Each, Wickham Missouri and Mohammed Elsa face five years imprisonment in accordance with Article 206 of the Penal Code of Morocco. "

The International Committee of Support Omni The Amati has welcomed the court's decision to give back Omni freedom to travel outside Morocco.

But would like an end to the "campaign of slander and all baseless accusations against Omni, all about intimidation and harassment all his guidance," said Abdullah Hammond, chairman of the committee and Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University in America.

"This committee will continue to support Amati Omni and will remain vigilant," he said.