Independence-seekers convicted
2005-07-13 09:34
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El Ayoun - A Moroccan court on Tuesday handed down sentences of up to eight years in prison to 12 independence-seekers in Western Sahara, arrested following unrest in May.
The El Ayoun criminal court acquitted three others on trial and a verdict on a 16th defendant was postponed as he is still in hospital.
Sahrawi sources said 50 people were injured when police cracked down on demonstrations in Western Sahara's largest city, but Moroccan authorities have said they moved on criminals.
The 16 had faced charges of criminal association, vandalism, resisting arrest and participation in an armed crowd.
Morocco annexed the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975, but its claim is contested by the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed independence movement.
- AFP