Minister says Islamist prisoner died of 'tuberculous pneumonia'
The recent death of an Islamist in a prison south of Rabat is due to health problems, according to the Moroccan Justice Minister.
Mohamed Bouzoubaa said an autopsy revealed that the death of Khalid Boukri, 28, who died last Tuesday in a Outita 2 prison near Benslimane while he was reportedly on a hunger strike along with 600 other Islamist inmates, is due to a tuberculous pneumonia.
The Islamist inmates tried in the morrow of the May 16, 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca started their hunger strike on May 2 in different prisons in the kingdom to protest against their detention.
In a statement Wednesday to the national TV "TVM" Bouzoubaâ sustained, however, that Boukri was not on hunger strike as autopsy revealed that he had eaten two hours before his death.
Immediately after his death, a commission was set up to determine the causes of the demise. The report of the autopsy concluded they were "no signs of violence" on the victim, he explained.
According to the Minister, a detailed report will be submitted to Boukri's family on the circumstances of his death.
Bouzoubaâ added that his department has set up a committee to examine the reasons that led the 600 prisoners to go on a hunger strike deeming it "certainly not fortuitous" since it coincides with the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed 45 people including the 12 suicide bombers.
According to the minister, the prisoners' requests for acquittal and excuses on the part of the government are "undoable." It is impossible to suspend sentences of final instance, he said.
The Moroccan official denied, on the other hand, international media claims of alleged kidnapping of two leaders of the strike. He explained that some prisoners were transferred to make them closer to their families in response to requests by human rights organizations.
Bouzoubaa said a commission was set up to visit prisons and contact inmates to persuade them of the uselessness of their "illegal" movement.
On April 10, another prisoner who was on a hunger strike died of "heart failure and dehydration," according to the Justice department. Abdelmoumen Massoudi, condemned for battery and assault, was suffering of psychological problems. In a letter he had addressed to the prison direction he said he started the hunger strike because he wanted to be isolated from the other inmates as he didn't get along with them.
In a separate incident, another inmate, Zakaria Douibi, died last April in a prison in Kenitra (40Km from Rabat). His death prompted the
general prosecutor to deny some press reports about the circumstances of Douibi's death. He said the inmate-committed suicide, hanging himself with a blanket tied to an iron bar of the cell window.