El Aaiun (Occupied Territories), April 14, 2011 (SPS) - The Moroccan authorities of occupation have released Thursday Saharawi detainees Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmad Naciri, indicated the Collective of Sahrawi human rights defenders (CODESA).
The three political prisoners spent 18 months in the prisons of Salé and Casablanca/Morocco.
The Moroccan authorities have also released Ahmad Mahmoud Haddi Elkainan, who was arrested on October 18, 2009 and sentenced to four years in prison by the Court of Casablanca.
The release of this group follows incessant international appeals, especially from international human rights organisations, condemning the arrest of Saharawi human rights defenders Tamek, Dahane and Naciri and four other companions, and demanding their unconditional release.
The group was arrested in Casablanca airport on 8 October 2009, upon their arrival from a visit to the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria from 25 September to 06 October 2010.
The news of the provisional release was announced just after the three Saharawi human rights defenders had started their ninth hunger strike, demanding a fair trial or to be unconditionally released.