The Kingdom of Morocco, praised by the US for its elections and reform efforts, has cracked down on pro-democracy activists, who allege Moroccan authorities abused them.

In late August, during a court hearing in Casablanca, six Moroccan activists told a judge they were physically and sexually abused by police during their detention, people at the trial said.

“Each one of them said that at the time of the arrest and in the police van, police officers beat them after blindfolding them and abused them again at the police station,” Larbi El Hilali, a blogger and activist who posted an account of the trial on his blog, told Al-Monitor. “One defendant testified that they pulled his eyelashes to make him shout 'long live the king.'”  

The activists were arrested on July 22 following a protest in Casablanca against the high cost of living. They were sentenced on Sept. 12 to six-to-10 months in prison for holding a protest without authorization, assaulting and cursing police officers. The six activists are members of the pro-democracy February 20 Movement that emerged in early 2011 after the Arab Spring reached Morocco.