Spain Expels Moroccan ISIS Supporter Who Planned Christmas Terror Attack

The National Court approved the decision of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior to expel the Moroccan and ban him from entering Spain for a period of ten years. He had been sentenced in November 2019 by the criminal chamber to two years and six months in prison as the perpetrator of a crime of active collaboration with a terrorist organization, in this case the Islamic State (Daesh). The Moroccan had planned to carry out an attack in Madrid on Christmas Day 2017, reported El Confidencial Digital.

According to the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez Ruiz, the defendant disseminated a large number of messages to promote the ideology of the Islamic State on social networks. An act that he considers of "extreme gravity", further justifying the expulsion of the Moroccan by the fact that his behavior "constitutes a real, current and sufficiently serious threat to national security". According to him, the ultimate goal is to prevent the commission of terrorist attacks.

The Moroccan tried to prevent his expulsion from Spain, first by filing an appeal for reintegration which was rejected by the Secretary of State for Security on February 9, 2021. After that, he filed a contentious and administrative appeal before the National Audience, in which he denounces the violation of his rights "as a disabled person" and considers his expulsion to Morocco as an act of torture or inhuman treatment.

The Moroccan, born in 1987 in Morocco, has been residing in Spain since 2003 with his parents and siblings. He obtained a long-term residence permit in October 2008. According to the medical report presented at his trial, he would be mentally disabled and does not follow any medical treatment. In any case, the "imperative reasons of public security" take precedence "over the health or well-being" of the Moroccan, says the Interior official.