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Feud With King Tests Freedoms In Morocco
In 1974, Abdessalam Yassine committed the brazen act of writing a 120-page public letter to King Hassan II, questioning the legitimacy of his claim to the throne and warning him of a coming Islamic "deluge" that would sweep him from power.
The challenge was considered so outlandish that Hassan, known for using torture and repression to hold on to power, had Yassine declared insane and committed to an asylum. Yassine stayed locked up or under house arrest for most of the next quarter-century.
  Nadia Yassine, bottom center, appeared at court in June with a taped mouth; 150 lawyers volunteered to defend her right to freedom of speech. (Associated Press) |
After Hassan died in 1999, Mohammed pardoned several well-known political prisoners and ordered Yassine released. If Yassine was grateful, he did not show it. Instead, he put pen to paper again and sent another letter to the palace. "To whom it may concern," it began, before accusing Hassan of having stolen $50 billion from the Moroccan people and demanding that the new king pay it back.
Mohammed ignored the letter and instead collected accolades from home and abroad for encouraging a new political openness, including the creation of a commission that investigated human-rights abuses during his father's reign. But the show of tolerance didn't quiet the Yassines, who have kept up their criticism, with Nadia Yassine becoming the public face of Justice and Charity.
"My father never had any personal fight with Hassan II. The problem was with our Muslim history," Nadia Yassine explained at her home. "The monarchs under which we live represent the autocracy we are fighting. Our problem is with their political philosophy. It has nothing to do with them personally."
Since her trial began, Yassine has drawn support from some unexpected corners.
Morocco has long been one of the most reliable U.S. allies in the Islamic world. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings, U.S. and Moroccan counterterrorism agencies have become close partners, and the two nations signed a free-trade agreement that took effect last month. However, the State Department rebuked the Moroccan government after Yassine was first prosecuted. It released a statement saying that it was "troubled" by the case, adding, "This move contradicts many of the important advances Morocco is making in promoting human rights."
Gregory W. Sullivan, spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said the agency was closely monitoring the case. "We still have concerns about what Nadia Yassine's arrest represents for the future of reform and the freedoms of press and speech in Morocco," he said.
Yassine has found another ally in the king's cousin, Prince Moulay Hicham, a Princeton graduate who is second in line to the throne. In an open letter, he proclaimed his "full solidarity" with her defense, although he disagreed with her political views. "The survival of the monarchy itself will ultimately depend on its capacity to weather adverse opinion, however extreme it might be," he wrote.
