Mouhcine Fikri (Arabic: محسن فكري, Tamazight ⵎⵓⵃⵙⵉⵏ ⴼⵉⴽⵔⵉ 'muḥsin fikrī') was a Moroccan fish vendor from Al Hoceima. On October 28, 2016, a police officer confiscated 500 kg of swordfish that he had purchased from Al Hoceima port. When Fikri climbed into the back of a rubbish truck to retrieve the confiscated fish, worth over $11,000, the rubbish crusher mechanism was activated, crushing him to death. A witness is said to have heard the police officers involved order the crusher to be activated, leading to the man's death. Video footage of his death was widely played on social media in Morocco. Outrage led to protests in Al Hoceima, that spread across Morocco. Fikri's death drew parallels with the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit seller whose death in 2010 sparked protests in Tunisia, leading both to revolution there and to the wider Arab Spring.
References
- Jawad, Rana (1 November 2016). "Morocco arrests 11 over fish-seller's death in Al-Hoceima". BBC News. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- Alami, Aida (2016-10-30). "Protests Erupt in Morocco Over Fish Vendor's Death in Garbage Compactor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- "Fish seller's garbage-truck death ignites Arab Spring-style protests". NBC News. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- "Moroccan police question witnesses to death that sparked widespread protests". the Guardian. 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- "Moroccan fish vendor's gruesome death sparks mass protests". cbsnews.com. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- "Morocco's Hirak Movement: The People Versus the Makhzen". jadaliyya.com. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- Kuo, Lily. "The death of a fishmonger in Morocco draws parallels with the Tunisian vendor who started the Arab spring". qz.com. Retrieved 17 July 2017.