During a meeting on Monday in Rabat with Spanish ambassador, Luis Planas Puchades, Morocco's Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri expressed the kingdom's "strong indignation at the unacceptable physical violence inflicted once again on Moroccan citizens," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
    Moroccan citizen Mostapha Bellahcen, a student aged 30, was physically assaulted on Monday by members of the Spanish police. He was transported to the Melilla hospital after suffering injuries, the statement said.
    According to preliminary reports, Bellahcen was accused of holding a plastic bag containing a kilogram and a half of fresh sardines, which do not meet the hygiene requirements, the same source added.
    “But instead of fulfilling their mission in accordance with the practices governing such cases, the policemen used force and beat up the Moroccan citizen,” the statement said.
    Morocco strongly condemns such actions, which are disrespectful to human dignity, contrary to all ethical rules and indisputably racist,” it added.
    This is the third case reported in a few weeks, Morocco “has publicly expressed, on July 16, its firm protest over the physical violence committed against five young Moroccans residing in Belgium, who were bound for Melilla, the statement recalled.
    Lagdaf Karim, a citizen who was accompanied by his mother, had also suffered a similar fate, on July 29, at the same access point, the source added.