Former Jihadist Convicted for Undeclared Morocco Trip, Violating Terror Watch List Rules

While he is required to declare any cross-border travel until 2031, a former member of the Albertville jihadist network who left in 2013 to do jihad in Syria made a trip to Morocco "without informing the authorities", reports Le Dauphiné Libéré. He was arrested at his workplace on November 7. After his arrest, he was tried on Thursday in immediate appearance for the offense of "travel abroad without prior declaration by a person registered in the file of terrorist offenses" at the Albertville criminal court.

In 2017, the Paris criminal court had sentenced this Albertville resident for "criminal conspiracy with a view to preparing a terrorist act". On his release from the Moulin-Yzeure high-security prison, he had been notified of his obligation to declare any travel abroad. At the bar, he tries to convince prosecutor Anne Gaches that he was unaware of this obligation imposed on him. "In the euphoria of detention, I had not read all the documents that were given to me when I left prison, but I do not contest the offense I am accused of," he said.

"When I see the meticulousness with which the defendant has re-read the minutes of this procedure, I have trouble believing that he was unaware of his obligations that were notified to him," said the public prosecutor, who requested eight months in prison and a committal order. Lawyer Nathalie Olivier takes up the defense of this 33-year-old man: "This man may have only one conviction on his criminal record, but it greatly disturbs the justice system which today must nevertheless stick to the only offense prosecuted, which is ultimately very minor."

The court does not take into account the prosecutor’s requisition. The defendant is sentenced to four months in prison arranged in home detention under electronic surveillance and a fine of 1,000 euros.