He calls himself a sniper. His weapon is a video camera. His identity is still a secret. And he is driving the Moroccan border police to distraction because he has placed four films on the internet showing corrupt police officers taking money from motorists. Since the summer, "the Targuist sniper" has filmed the practices of the Royal Border Police in the region of northern Morocco around the town of Targuist. His films have already attracted a half a million viewers on YouTube. The films show one police officer after another accepting money from motorists. The footage is accompanied by a cheerful tune.
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A still from one of the sniper's videos |
Robin Hood
The Moroccan media have hailed the sniper as a hero for exposing the corruption. A modern-day Robin Hood, who helps ordinary people, but manages to keep himself out of the hands of the authorities; in this case the border police. The police have been seriously embarrassed by the sniper, and have started a manhunt. So far to no avail. A group of IT students was held for a short while, but a judge ruled their only crime was a passion for the internet.
The border police had hoped the matter would go away after a number of the police officers who appeared in the first film were arrested. But the Moroccan Robin Hood posted a new film on the internet demonstrating beyond doubt that the police are still setting up checkpoints on their own initiative and demanding money from motorists.
In his second film, the sniper also shows an open letter to King Mohammed VI, in which he implores him to "intervene as quickly as possible to save Targuist from the corruption of the town's authorities."
Interview
In the meantime, the sniper has become well-known in Morocco and beyond. The Moroccan media are desperately trying to arrange an interview with the anonymous filmmaker, but up to now only the leading French-language newspaper Tel Quel has been successful. In the interview, he says: "Day-to-day life in Morocco is unbearable, the border police terrorise the region. They take advantage of the ignorance, illiteracy and naivety of the people, whom they treat as if they were less than nothing. I couldn't sit back and watch, I had to do something."
Earlier this week five motorists were arrested. They were all driving the same type of Mercedes bus that can be seen in the YouTube films. These buses are apparently the favourite vehicle for the drugs mafia in the mountainous and inaccessible region. And the border police have taken to patrolling the region in plain clothes, so that they can investigate corruption among their own officers.
Merry Men
Until recently, it was thought the Taguist sniper worked alone. But the latest film warns the border police:
"Tell those involved that our gang is not just filming in the Targuist region, but that members of our group are exposing corruption everywhere. And if they do not change their ways, they will face the same fate."Just like Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, the Moroccan version seems to have recruited a band of Merry Men.
* RNW Internet translation (nc/imm)
Tags: border, corruption, Mercedes, Merry Men, Moroccan, police, Robin Hood, smuggling, sniper, Targuist, video, YouTube