Arrested in Tangier on Friday, 23rd of March, on his way to the Netherlands, Moroccan-Dutch national Mahmoud El Hajaji explained in an interview with Trouw.nl, the circumstances of his arrest and the seven-hour long interrogation he was subjected to. It all started when El Hajaji was about to pass through the passport control when leaving Tangier. «The police checked my stuff and said that I had «illegal» books. I was detained for five hours in the port. But in fact, the books were in Arabic, they were plain ones that you can find in bookstores in Morocco». The 44-year-old said he was taken to the police station in the evening, where he was interrogated for seven hours, suspected of being linked to the Hirak. Furthermore, El Hajaji believes that he is part of «a list of about twenty Moroccan-Dutch nationals watched by the Moroccan authorities. Meanwhile, Rif Alert association, which questioned the presence of such lists, recalled the need of «paying attention to [the Hajaji's file]». Thus, the NGO has urged Moroccan-Dutch nationals to no longer go to the country, fearing their arrest. Despite this warning, Mahmoud Hajaji remains determined to return to the kingdom. He visited Tangier to check on his sick father. For the record, during the interrogation the man was asked about Facebook posts he made about the Hirak and about his relationship with the movement's activists. He was also questioned about a Berber Foundation he is a member of.
