The widow of Moroccan politician Mehdi Ben Bara, Rhita Bennani, died this Wednesday, June 26 in Paris, surrounded by her loved ones. She dedicated her life to discovering the truth about her husband’s “abduction and disappearance,” her family said in a statement.
Mehdi Ben Barka was the leader of the left-wing National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP) and a staunch opponent of French colonial rule and King Hassan II. His wife, who had lived in France since 1964, fought tirelessly to uncover the fate of her late husband who disappeared in Paris in 1965. “Until his kidnapping and disappearance, she had accompanied her husband, Mehdi Ben Barka, in all the trials of his militant life both against the protectorate and for the building of an independent democratic Morocco, sharing the joys and sorrows of family life,” his family said in a press release.
Harassed by Moroccan secret services, Bennani was forced to leave Morocco in 1964. She did not return until 1999, when she and her children decided to end their exile following the death of Hassan II, whom she “held responsible for the kidnapping and disappearance of her husband”.
“For nearly sixty years, she devoted herself, alongside her children and those close to her, to the long struggle of searching for the truth about her husband’s fate in order to be able to mourn and remember his remains. “, said the family.
Rhita Bennani will be buried in the Paris region, according to her relatives, specifying that they will later share information on her burial.
The Ben Barka family continues to fight to uncover the truth about the disappearance of Mehdi Ben Barka on October 29, 1965 at the hands of French police in Paris.
