Rabat – Spanish Judge at the National Court Jose Luis Calaman ordered on May 12 the provisional detention for a Moroccan ISIS suspect arrested last week in Barcelona.
The court decided to detain the suspect at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office. The suspect faces charges of promoting ISIS and inciting terrorism.
Spanish police arrested the suspect on Friday, May 8, with the assistance of Morocco’s General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST) and the FBI.
Europa Press reported that investigators believe the detainee was a member of ISIS for four years.
During the COVID-19 lock-down in Spain, the suspect used social networks to promote ISIS ideology and incite hatred towards the West.
The suspect allegedly breached Spain’s lockdown measures to look for potential locations for a terrorist attack in Barcelona.
Police believe that the suspect was motivated by ISIS and its “lone wolf” approach, seeking to push its members to launch attacks in Western countries.
The detainee is “totally influenced by Daesh propaganda, having even pledged allegiance to this terrorist organization, a circumstance by which he is considered to be a real threat to security,” the Spanish Civil Guard said in a statement after his arrest on May 8.
The joint operation between the US, Spain, and Morocco mirrors the strong counterterrorism partnership between the North African country and its international allies.
Morocco has long expressed its determination to help its partners benefit from its expertise in counterterrorism, making available its security units to fight against the scourge of terrorism.
The country’s security units, including Morocco’s Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), and the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) are fully involved in the mission to fight against terrorism, along with Morocco’s other security operators.
This is not the first time when Morocco has assisted its international partners in the arrest of ISIS suspects or radicalized individuals.
Moroccan security services, in cooperation with Spanish and Moroccan intelligence, arrested a Moroccan terror suspect who was allegedly planning a terror attack in Seville, southern Spain in April 2019.
