Rabat – A military court in Somalia has released the six Moroccan nationals who were recently sentenced to death by a military court in northern Somalia in late February.
The news outlet Garowe Online reported today that the released individuals will be repatriated to Morocco.
Quoting authorities in the northeastern Somalian state of Puntland, the news outlet said that the six men were released to the Ministry of Justice, which was instructed to repatriate them to their countries of origin.
Additionally, the court released six children who had also been recruited by the ISIS branch in Somalia.
The six released Moroccans were sentenced to death for their alleged links to ISIS.
In March, several NGOs in Morocco called on the Moroccan government to take urgent action to save the lives of the six Moroccans.
A joint statement from different NGOs, including the Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty, condemned the death sentences and urged authorities to take action and secure the repatriation of the Moroccan nationals.
In their statement, the NGOs highlighted that some of the defendants claimed they had come to Somalia in search of work and were unaware of the intentions of those who had recruited them.
The defendants’ lawyer confirmed that they wished to return to Morocco, stating that they had been misled by the extremist group they had joined in Somalia.
NGOs across the world, including in Morocco, have long advocated for the abolition of the death penalty.
Moroccan right advocacy groups have intensified such anti-capital punishment campaigns in recent years, reiterating calls on Morocco to abolish the death penalty.
Although Morocco has not carried out a death sentence since 1993, Moroccan courts still occasionally impose the death penalty in cases involving crimes deemed to be extremely heinous.
