Jihadist pleads guilty
Altea detainee will be deported but avoids going to prison in Spain
A young Moroccan man arrested in Altea in 2016 accused of forming a jihadist recruitment cell will be deported from Spain for 10 years, after he admitted the charges in the High Court in Madrid this week.
A YOUNG Moroccan man arrested in Altea in October 2016 accused of forming a jihadist recruitment cell will be deported from Spain for 10 years, after he admitted the charges in the High Court in Madrid this week.
Anouar Merabet appeared before the court along with fellow countryman Abdelillah Migou, arrested in Málaga on the same charges.
Both accepted the deal with the public prosecutor, who reduced his prison sentence request from 11 to five years to be exchanged for repatriation to Morocco and prohibition from re-entering Spain in the next 10 years.
In the case of Merabet, he was also charged with crimes against public health (selling drugs), for which he has been fined €2,478.
Although the hearing was initially scheduled to last until Wednesday, the accused's admission of guilt on Monday sped up the judicial process, that lasted only one day.
Both admitted the accusations of belonging to a jihadist cell with branches in Spain, Morocco and Syria, to radicalise and recruit fighters to the so-called Islamic State (IS).
In her accusation, the public prosecutor highlighted Merbet's role as 'virutal charismatic leader' of the cell -a Sheik, or spiritual leader, which made him a highly convincing recruiter.
The 400 grams of drugs found at his Altea home led investigators to believe this was the way in which he funded the cell's activities.
The arrest of Anour Merbet shocked the Altea community as he did not appear suspicious. He was a player in a local football club and even took part in the popular Moors and Christians fiestas.
Both jihadists were very active on social media, mainly Facebook.
Migou was not only ac- cused of openly expressing his loyalty to IS, but also publishing hatred messages on social media such as 'Hit them on their necks until they're subdued' and a farewell message saying 'Forgive me mother, I love the Jihad and my religion calls me to defend its servants'.
As the accused admitted the facts, the prosecutor did not press for the court to listen to the tapped telephone conversations recorded by the police in which Merabet was said to have agreed to the regular sending of cash to Morocco obtained from drug dealing here in Spain.