The criminal chamber at the Tangier court of appeal sentenced, on Wednesday, two people among about thirty defendants in the incidents of the Chlihate and Shishate Douars (Larache province) to two years in prison and the other people to sentences ranging from 3 to 6 months of suspended imprisonment. The defendants were found guilty in particular, each as far as he is concerned, of illegal occupation of the public highway, destruction of public property, armed gatherings, violence and insults against public force agents, and refusal to comply, indicates a judicial source. The facts date back to last June, when demonstrators, from the Chlihate and Shishate Douars bordering a state-owned land, subject to a rental contract signed in 1998, in the rural commune of Zouada, clashed with law enforcement forces who intervened to allow the company AGRO-Merouane (subsidiary of the Spanish group Mundiriz), specialising in the production and marketing of rice, to begin the land exploitation work.