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Eid-Al-Fitr is a joyful celebration in the Muslim world, where laughter and happiness bring families together.��

Yet this year��Eid��in North Africa was mired with��anguish, as numerous��households were deprived of the presence of a dear family member,��who were either arrested for an online post, publishing a critical��article, or charged with��an allegedly politically motivated case.

On Eid morning, Fatiha Shraibi, the mother of jailed Moroccan journalist Omar Radi, sat at the house's salon staring at her son's picture while��waiting for his call from the prison of Tiflet, where he is��spending time for��his six-year-long sentence.

The call has never come, says his father, and the ache over Omar's��absence��continued for another Eid.

— RADI Driss (@RADIDriss4)

"We were not waiting for a political breakthrough or any indication from the authorities to relieve us of this tragedy during this occasion [Eid], because the arrests and trials continued at a faster pace,"��Driss Radi, Omar's father, ��on a Facebook post.

The Moroccan palace ahead of the Eid celebration a royal pardon of 958 prisoners, none of whom were��activists or Hirak Rif protesters.

Last month, a Moroccan court sentenced two Moroccan activists, and , for publishing online posts critical of the Moroccan state.

Al-Ablak, who received a four-year in-jail sentence, is threatening to set himself on fire if security forces try to arrest him. On a daily basis, he broadcasts live videos on his Facebook page, updating the public on his situation.

Meanwhile, El-Alami, who is currently in Casablanca's jail, launched a hunger strike right after the court's decision,��protesting what she calls,��"the unfair trial."

Moroccan journalists Omar Radi, Soulaimane Raissouni, and Taoufik Bouachrin were all sentenced in different cases of sexual assault. Amnesty and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ��that the cases are politically motivated.

Morocco's Council of Human Rights categorically the existence of "political prisoners"��in the kingdom.

For their part, several Moroccan social media users voiced their support for the activists' families, sharing the names and pictures of those still detained, and insisted��that ""

ومن قال اننا نسيناكم !
كل عام واهلنا من أحرار الريف..
وأصحاب المباديء والأقلام الحرة
بألف خير وخير وخير

— |𝐍aeima.🖤 (@IMA_N88)

Other Moroccans��sent letters of support for activists in Moroccan jails, to echo��their long-standing belief in their innocence.

"I think writing to arrested activists and ensuring them that we trust their credibility and we do not believe all the accusations against them is important. They do not have access to the internet and we need to let them know through letters. It’s the last thing we can do for them,"��Abdellah, a Moroccan law student who sent��letters��on Eid to several Moroccan jailed activists, told ������.

In Algeria, a similar sentiment mired Eid celebrations in many households, where a son, a husband or a daughter is absent from the Eid family gathering, remaining locked in��prison cells��mostly for their online posts.

The online campaign ""��failed in pressuring the Algerian authorities to loosen their grip on the freedom of speech in the North African country.

At the start of Ramadan, Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune pardoned 1,076 prisoners and 70 detainees from the Hirak movement. The presidency had not issued any pardon on Eid.

Human rights NGOs and activists say Algeria lives today in a "darker era"��than the Bouteflika regime, which was ousted in 2019 following pro-reform Hirak protests.

Last month, , an Algerian activist, died in custody. He was arrested for online posts that were pro-Hirak. Death and deterioration of health are common incidents in Algerian jails, where prisoners are often exposed to various forms of torture and inhumane treatment, to Shoaa for Human Rights, a London-based NGO.

Today, marking world press freedom day, RSF shared the in the world, including North Africa.

Morocco is ranked 135 out of 180 countries. Algeria came ahead of the Kingdom by one rank (134). Meanwhile, Tunisia’s state of freedom deteriorated from 73 in 2021 to 94 in 2022.��

Freedom of speech has started shrinking in the birth land of the Arab spring since President Kais Saeid seized extraordinary power last year, .