Moroccan Court Upholds Prison Sentence for Controversial Salafist Preacher

Incarcerated since March 20, the takfirist Salafist, aged 64, was prosecuted for "incitement to hatred and threat of citizens by the commission of acts that seriously undermine public order".

On March 17, he had been arrested by the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ), under the supervision of the public prosecutor’s office at the Rabat Court of Appeal in charge of terrorism cases, following the online posting of a video. Sheikh Abou Naïm had used a virulent discourse against the authorities after the official announcement of the closure of the kingdom’s mosques to curb the covid-19 pandemic.

Residing in Casablanca, he had declared, among other things, that the decision to close these places of worship in Morocco, despite the high risk of contagion among the faithful, was not in accordance with Islamic law (Sharia).