Thami Najim, the Danish citizen who was arrested in February on terrorism charges in Morocco, has been found guilty and sentenced to ten months in prison, Politiken newspaper reported today.
Najim, 37, was arrested in February along with two others for having planned terror attacks against the Moroccan state. Morocco’s Interior Ministry said at that time that Najim supervised a plan to “undermine the county’s security and stability”.
According to Politiken, the usual sentence for trying to undermine the Moroccan regime is up to five years in prison, but a source told the newspaper that Najim received a lighter sentence because the state “had a weak case”.
Najim also faced charges of receiving illegal foreign financing for his terror operations, but the court declined to use Morocco’s terror laws to pursue those charges, referencing legal money transfers from Najim’s former Danish employer. If the terror clause had been applied, Najim could have faced life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Najim was born and raised in Denmark. He moved to Morocco, where he also has citizenship, with his family in 2007. Politiken reports that he is an active member in the Islamic organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, working as the organisation’s webmaster and IT provider. He is a father to four children.
Denmark has attempted to have him extradited to his country of birth, but Moroccan authorities have refused on the grounds that they do not recognise dual citizenship.
