Said Chaou

Said Chaou (, born 1967), is a Moroccan-Dutch 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 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 (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. 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".