On 10 April, the Court of First Instance in Oujda city sentenced Amine Lamkallach, Mostafa Dainine and Aziz Boudchich to prison. Amine Lamkallach was sentenced to one and half years, Mostafa Dainine was sentenced to 10 months and ordered to pay a fine of 500 Dirham (44 EUR), and Aziz Boudchich received a one year sentence. The three human rights defenders are leading figures in a movement that demands social justice and economic opportunities for the inhabitants of the economically-marginalised city of Jerada. Protests in Jerada began on 22 December 2017 following the death of two young brothers in a coal mine. The protests increased in February following the death of a third young miner in another coal mine. The Moroccan government shut down the coal mining industry in the city in 1998 without providing economic alternatives. As a result of the subsequent decline in living conditions and the high unemployment rate, many inhabitants of Jerada, especially young men, have engaged in dangerous mining activities in abandoned coal mines. For years, Moroccan authorities have tolerated the illegal and dangerous mining activity and disregarded long-standing complaints from the population regarding marginalisation, poverty, unemployment and lack of infrastructure and basic services.