A Moroccan court has sentenced six minors to six months in prison for their involvement in the youth-led Gen Z 212 protest movement , according to their lawyers.
The ruling was handed down on Friday by a court in Casablanca and relates to demonstrations held last autumn, when thousands of young Moroccans took part in protests calling for reforms to healthcare and education and demanding action against corruption.
The six minors were convicted of "obstructing traffic" on a motorway during one of the demonstrations, AFP reported.
One of their lawyers, Hassan Al-Sunni, said that four of them "will be released this evening (Friday)" after receiving credit for the full period they spent in pre-trial detention, despite the six-month sentence.
It was not immediately clear whether the sentences imposed on the remaining two minors, who appeared before the court while not in custody, would be suspended or enforced.
The ruling follows a separate judgment last week in the same case, in which 18 adult defendants received prison sentences ranging from 10 months to a one-year suspended term.
According to the public prosecutor's office, those arrested were accused of "obstructing traffic on a motorway in Casablanca", causing a "complete stoppage" of traffic.
Thirteen of the adults were later released after the time they spent in pre-trial detention was taken into account.
The Gen Z 212 movement emerged last year through the social platform Discord and rapidly developed into one of the largest protest movements Morocco has seen in recent years.
Its demonstrations, which took place almost daily over a two-week period, drew comparisons with the country's 20 February Movement of 2011, which emerged during the Arab Spring, and the Hirak Rif protests that shook northern Morocco in 2017.
The protests gradually lost momentum following a speech by King Mohammed VI calling for faster social reforms and government pledges to increase support for the health and education sectors in the 2026 budget.
Alongside the demonstrations, Morocco also witnessed episodes of unrest and clashes. Two nights of violence near Agadir in southern Morocco left three people dead.
In October, Moroccan prosecutors said that more than 2,400 people were facing trial in connection with events linked to the movement, including around 1,400 who were being held in detention at the time.
Most were accused of involvement in acts of violence that followed the protests, according to the public prosecutor's office.