A court in the city of Ouzarzate in South Morocco has sentenced 10 Berber activists to between one and six years' imprisonment, on charges of illegal assembly, burning the national flag, obstructing traffic and assaulting a civil servant.
Supporters of the detainees claim that the 10 had participated in a peaceful demonstration in the town of Boulman n Dades calling for recognition of the Berber language in Morocco.
A petition for their release has been posted on the internet.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, February 23, 2008; www.amazighworld.org, December 21, 2008.
