Ahmed Jawad, a Moroccan playwright died on Sunday, a week after setting himself on fire in protest of the culture ministry, according to a Moroccan official.
According to the official, Ahmed Jawad “died in a Rabat hospital where he was being treated” after attempting to end his life.
On the International Day of Theatre, March 27, he set himself on fire in front of the Ministry of Culture’s headquarters in Rabat.
Local media explained his act by a feeling of “exclusion and marginalisation”.
The Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication expressed its “deep regret” in a statement, specifying that he was “a contractual civil servant at the Mohammed V Theatre in Rabat who has been retired since October 2021, and who enjoys all the rights guaranteed to him by the law.
“The individual in question had submitted an offer to the ministry to purchase his plays, which was approved,” the statement said, adding that the ministry had “acquired two of his plays in 2022 and agreed to purchase a third in 2023.”