Rabat - Morocco has agreed to hand over French national Thomas Gallay, whom Morocco sentenced in 2016 for his involvement in terrorism-related crimes.
Rabat – Morocco has agreed to hand over French national Thomas Gallay, whom Morocco sentenced in 2016 for his involvement in terrorism-related crimes.
A statement from the Moroccan Ministry of Justice said on Monday that Morocco has responded favorably to a direct request made by French President Emmanuel Macron to transfer Georges to his country to complete his prison sentence.
Morocco approved the request after fulfilling all legal conditions, in accordance with Morocco’s law governing judicial cooperation with foreign countries.
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The agreement also falls within a judicial convention concluded between the two countries.
Morocco’s security forces arrested the French national for his suspected ties with a terror group of nine suspects, who were planning to commit crimes to undermine public safety.
According to Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) a Rabat court had sentenced the French national to six years in prison. The criminal division of the Court of Appeal later reduced the sentence to four years.
Police arrested the 37-year-old in the Moroccan coastal city of Essaouira.
Gallay’s mother, Beatrice Gallay, called on Macron to bring her son home to France. In response, Macron promised to intervene and try to repatriate him.
Gallay’s mother stood daily in front of Macron’s presidential residence, holding a banner reading “Help Thomas” until she caught the president’s attention.
The court convicted Gallay of financing terrorism. But his mother accused Moroccan police of forcing her son to sign a false confession written in Arabic which he did not understand. She claimed that he only gave “€70 to an acquaintance” rather than to a terrorist cell.
