https://arab.news/29crf
- A Moroccan security source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP he was a “radical activist” with a “hostile stance against the kingdom”
BERLIN: A Moroccan man was found guilty on Monday of spying on supporters of a protest group in Germany for a Moroccan secret service.
The suspect, named only as Youssef El A., was handed an 18-month suspended sentence, the higher regional court in Duesseldorf said in a statement.
Youssef El A. “had been working for the Moroccan secret service DGED since at least January 2022,” the court said.
Along with an accomplice identified as Mohamed A., he spied on members of the Hirak movement, a Moroccan opposition protest group, according to the statement.
Youssef El A. had previously been a supporter of the movement, the court said.
Mohamed A. was found guilty of spying on supporters of the Hirak movement in August 2023 and was given a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.
Youssef El A. made a full confession during the trial, the court said.
After his arrest in Germany in January, Moroccan authorities denied that they had any connection with him.
A Moroccan security source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP he was a “radical activist” with a “hostile stance against the kingdom.”
The man “has no ties to Moroccan intelligence services and has never collected information for them,” the source said.
The Hirak movement emerged in northern Morocco’s Rif region in 2016 following anger over the death of a fishmonger crushed by a bin lorry as he tried to recover swordfish seized by police.
It sparked protests demanding development in the long-marginalized Berber region, which led to dozens of arrests.