Moroccan court sentenced three defendants on terrorism charges

The Court of Appeal of Salé has handed prison sentences ranging from three to four years to three individuals on terrorism-related charges. Two of the defendants were planning to join ISIS in Syria.

The Court’s Criminal Chamber in charge of terrorism cases has tried the three individuals in separate cases for incitement to commit terrorist acts and apology for terrorist organizations.

The first case involved a 30-year-old native of Tangier, who received a three-year prison sentence for promoting ISIS ideology and apology for terrorism. Investigations have shown that the accused had pledged allegiance to terrorist organizations in Syria.

In addition to having been an active member on social networks, investigations also revealed that the 30-year-old defendant had decided to travel to Syria to support ISIS by fighting the Allied forces. The accused told investigators that he had changed his mind due to fear.

The second case concerns a man from Meknes who was sentenced to four years in prison for promoting the extremist ideology.

The investigation revealed that his cell phone contained photos and videos of dangerous ISIS terror operations. The accused was also planning to travel to Syria and had even started travel arrangements by saving money and obtaining the necessary documents. But his plan failed when he discovered that the Turkish-Syrian borders were closed.

The court sentenced the accused on charges of supporting a terrorist organization, apology, and incitement to terrorism.

The court sentenced the third accused to four years in prison for apology and incitement to commit terrorist acts. The judicial police of Sale arrested him last April when investigations revealed that he has links to extremists.

The investigation also showed that the defendant had created a Facebook account to disseminate extremism and videos of terrorist acts in an effort to incite young people to join terrorist organizations.

Source: Morocco World News