Said Chaou (, born 1967), is a Moroccan-

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

politician. He has been an MP in the Moroccan parliament between 2007 and 2010, before leaving the country in the same year and gradually becoming a vocal critic of the policy of King Mohammed VI. In late 2014, he joined the so-called 18 September movement, which calls for

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

of the Rif region.

Life and career

Said Chaou was born in Morocco and in 1985, he immigrated to the Netherlands with his family. Chaou admits that he had a number of entrepreneurial ventures in the Netherlands including owning a Cannabis coffeeshop between 1991 and 1998 in

Roosendaal Roosendaal () is both a city and a municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Towns/villages of the municipality * Roosendaal (population: 66,760) * Wouw (4,920) * Heerle (1,900) * Nispen (1,440) * Wouwse ...

(City in Province of North Brabant, Netherlands). In 2003, Chaou settled in Morocco and was elected to the Moroccan house of representative in the legislative elections of 2007, representing the Al Ahd party. This period coincided with the creation of the "palace party" (the so-called

Authenticity and Modernity Party The Authenticity and Modernity Party (; ; , PAM) is a political party in Morocco. It was founded in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Himma, an advisor to the king Mohammed VI, and it has been perceived by its opponents and the press as being backed and dir ...

''PAM'') by the kings senior advisor and close friend,

Fouad Ali El Himma Fouad Ali El Himma (; born 6 December 1962, in Ben Guerir, Morocco) is a Moroccan politician and senior advisor for Mohammed VI of whom he is said to be a very close friend. Since he became Secretary of State in the Ministry of the Interior in N ...

. The ''PAM'' tried to absorb a number of smaller parties, including the Al Ahd, and Chaou had unclear relations with this new political formation at the time, which was particularly active in the Rif region, especially considering that he's the cousin of the close associate of El Himma and current Secretary General of the ''PAM'',

Ilyas El Omari Ilyas El Omari (; born 1967 in Bni Bouayach) is a Moroccan politician. He headed the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, and headed the Akhir Saâ press group, and was formerly General Secretary of Authenticity and Modernity Party The Authen ...

Moroccan Diplomatic row with the Netherlands over the extradition of Chaou

On 21 March 2010, Chaou left Morocco and a few months later Morocco demanded his extradition for alleged participation in the "Hashish smuggling activities", an accusation which Chaou insists are cooked up charges on political backgrounds for his activities related to the creation of the ''PAM'' party. The Netherlands has so far refused to execute the demands of the Moroccans to extradite Chaou, and this culminated into a diplomatic crisis on 23 June, when the king Mohammed VI recalled his ambassador in the Netherlands immediately after a live Facebook broadcast by Chaou, in which he talked about the repression going on in the Rif region by the King's forces in response to the

Hirak Rif The Hirak Rif Movement or the Rif Movement (, ) is a popular resistance movement that organised mass protests in the Berber language, Berber Rif region in northern Morocco between October 2016 and June 2017. The movement was triggered by the dea ...

protest movement. The Dutch response was that whilst it was committed to cooperation with the Moroccan government in strict respect of international law, it considered the reaction of the Moroccan government "incomprehensible and futile".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaou, Said 1967 births Dutch people of Riffian descent Dutch activists Living people Moroccan Berber politicians People from Al Hoceima Republicanism in Morocco Moroccan dissidents Moroccan exiles Riffian people