Man sentenced to death over Moroccan bombing
A man has been sentenced to death and another given life in prison for the bombing of a Moroccan cafe that killed 17 people in April.
Two Swiss and a Portuguese resident in canton Ticino were among the mostly tourists who died after the attack at the Marrakesh cafe. Another Swiss was seriously injured.
The April 28 blast also killed tourists from France, Britain and Portugal.
Morocco’s anti-terrorist court in Sale heard how the chief suspect dressed up like a tourist and planted the bomb in the Argana cafe, before setting it off with his mobile phone. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
His associate was given a life sentence and seven other defendants charged with having knowledge of the crime were handed four and two year terms. The court ruled the guilty had carried out a “premeditated assassination” and belonged to a “banned religious group”. During the court case the accused admitted following al-Qaida ideology.
The blasts were the deadliest in Morocco since coordinated suicide bombings carried out by Islamist militants in the commercial capital, Casablanca, in 2003.
The death penalty has not been enforced in Morocco since 1992.
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