As the Arab spring bloomed across the Middle East and North Africa this year we reported from Egypt, Libya,Tunisia, Bahrain and Syria. Those struggles have captured the attention of the world. But there's one nation where the uprising has been largely unnoticed. Morocco is experiencing unprecedented protests and demands for social and political change. Fouad Hady reports.
REPORTER: Fouad Hady
This is the Morocco that the government wants the world to see - Magnificent mosques, an ancient culture. But away from the tourist cameras, it's a very different story.
CROWD (Translation): Poor nation! Long live the people!
Thousands of people are on the streets. Night and day, the protests continue. People are demanding change.
AZDDINE BEN CHAJI, PROTESTER (Translation): Moroccans must have meloui, it’s a must for breakfast. It’s a must, essential.
Azddine ben Chaji is from the February 20th movement who are organising the protests.
AZDDINE BEN CHAJI (Translation): We’re in 2011 and policies from the 60’s still apply in Morocco today. We look forward to seeing the Morocco of tomorrow.
CROWD (Translation): Yesterday you said there were millions of jobs, today you say it’s tough and God will provide.
These demonstrators are teachers who have recently been sacked. The protests are mostly peaceful, though in February, five people were reported killed by security forces, including this man. The protests have forced 47-year-old King Mohammed the 6th to reform the Constitution, promising more power to the Parliament and enshrining the separation of powers. But that's not enough for the demonstrators.
AZDDINE BEN CHAJI (Translation): There is no change – there is no radical change.
Azzdine ben Chadji prays for greater freedom and more jobs, he has been out of permanent work for four years.
AZDDINE BEN CHAJI (Translation): Work in Morocco is available to certain types of people, the types who rely on cronyism, or on influence, or on authority as they say. But in general work in Morocco is non-existent.
Azzdine takes me to the roof to show me another part of the capital that tourists will never see - the Dur Sufia slum, where he used to live.
AZDDINE BEN CHAJI (Translation): Living conditions are extremely poor, there is no electricity, no water, no sewerage system.
We go to the slum where this woman has been living for 30 years.
REPORTER (Translation): Tell me, how many of you sleep here?
WOMAN (Translation): The eldest son, the girls…
REPORTER (Translation): All here? Father, mother, you and your husband? Do your children feel embarrassed?
WOMAN (Translation): Very much so, very much so…they feel very embarrassed because we have nothing.
CROWD (Translation): It’s an international scandal to arrest a journalist!
One night, I see this demonstration. Despite the King pledging reform, a leading journalist, Rachid Nini has been imprisoned. He was charged with attacking state institutions and compromising the security and safety of the homeland and citizens. His jailing is big news in Morocco and Europe. Amnesty International has taken up his cause.
I take the train to Casablanca to see Rachid Nini's sister. It's a beautiful city and a big tourist attraction. Noura Nini shows me her brother's office.
PEDRO (Translation): Do you miss him?
NOURA NINI (Translation): Very, very much. When we go to visit him…. Just looking into his eyes…. I often have things I want to ask him about but I often forget everything when I go in. I just look at his face!
Not only has the government silenced its most vocal critic. His sister and supporters say they've trumped up a charge to put him away.
NOURA NINI (Translation): The matter should be dealt with under the media law since he is a journalist. And the articles appeared in a newspaper so the applicable law is the media law, not criminal law. That is the law that should apply…
The next day, his family and friends go to the appeals court to argue for his release. But the matter is adjourned.
REPORTER (Translation): How are you feeling now?
NOURA NINI (Translation): My feelings are a mixture of frustration and hope – there is frustration and hope but we always hope for the best.
Ten minutes from the court is Morocco's largest mosque, built by thousands of workers and craftsmen. It cost a king's fortune, literally, in a country where 44 % of people are illiterate. Nearby I meet Hussein.
HUSSEIN (Translation): This one lives with me at home, he is my friend and brother, he is my beloved.
He earns $5 a day offering tourist rides on his horse.
HUSSEIN (Translation): People here are all rich and the houses are very expensive, houses are worth around half a billion – very expensive!
A short ride later, it's like I've crossed to another world. Because its close to the coast, developers want the land. But Hussein's not moving.
HUSSEIN (Translation): No, it is my home here, all my life – even if they give me a house I would not move.
Back in the capital, the demonstrations continue and Azddine is thinking of the future.
AZDDINE BEN CHAJI (Translation): These revolutions have ideas, the people carrying out these revolutions have ideas, and these ideas must be implemented because they benefit everyone.
Reporter/Camera
FOUAD HADY
Producer
GEOFF PARISH
Editor
DAVID POTTS
Translations/Subtitling
JOSEPH ABDO
DALIA MATAR
SIMO CHERKI
Original Music composed by Vicki Hansen