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German justice has given the day before yesterday, its verdict against the authoritarian practices of the Moroccan regime. Youssef El Assusti., A 32 -year -old Moroccan national, was sentenced by the Düsseldorf court to a year and six months suspended prison sentence for illegal intrusion in the home of militants of the National Rifain Party (PNR) established in Europe.
These facts constitute a new demonstration of the illegal methods deployed by the makhzen to monitor, intimidate and threaten.
In a statement published yesterday, the PNR welcomes the German judicial decision, seeing it as a “strong signal against illegal practices aimed at intimidating the Rifaine diaspora engaged in the defense of rights and freedoms”.
The Rifain Party denounces “with the greatest firmness” these attacks deemed “intolerable” to fundamental rights, the sovereignty and security of European states. He forcefully claims that “the fact that a foreign regime is trying to monitor and threaten citizens on European soil is unacceptable and must call a clear and firm response”.
The PNR press release does not forget to recall the previous sordids. Indeed, the Makhzen offers a sad record, the abduction and the tragic disappearance of the Moroccan activist Mehdi Ben Barka in the 1960s until the espionage operations against the Rifaine diaspora in Europe. “Even today, by spying on and threatening Rifan citizens installed in Europe, the regime confirms its repressive nature”, accuses the party, which holds Rabat for “fully responsible for any attack on the integrity and security of Rifan activists, in Europe as in the occupied rif”.
In this sense, the PNR calls on the European authorities to consider Morocco as an unreliable actor, whose methods recall those of a regime outside the law. The party now calls for the opening of investigations on alleged interference, whether it is the instrumentalization of places of worship to spy on or influence the diaspora, targeted pressures targeting activists or even attempts to corruption European political leaders in order to support Pro-Makhzen agendas.
The court said that Youssef El Asruti. Opened since at least January 2022 on behalf of Moroccan secret services. He has transmitted information to an intermediary, identified as Mohammed A.
The latter had already been sentenced in August 2023 to one year and nine months suspended prison sentence for the same actions. The German public prosecutor had requested a firm sentence, but the Court retained attenuating circumstances, in particular the fact that the accused would have recognized the acts in their entirety. For his part, Youssef El A. has given up any call, making the final sanction.
In addition, the party reaffirms its unfailing commitment to defend the legitimate rights of the Rifain people, denounces “the illegal annexation of the Rif” and opposes any attempt to intimidate and surveillance by Rabat.
In March 2018, Youssef El Asrouti was arrested by the German authorities for illegal stay, then placed in detention in a center for refugees while waiting for his expulsion to Morocco.
However, he was quickly released after submitting an asylum request thanks to the intervention of a lawyer funded by the Makhzen.
Accused of spying, Youssef El Asrouti had previously been arrested in Spain on December 1, 2024 on the basis of a European arrest warrant, before being transferred to Germany to be prosecuted. It is “strongly suspected” to spy on members of the Moroccan protest movement of Hirak Rifain since January 2022, prosecutors said.
The prosecutors consider him an accomplice of Mohamed A., another Moroccan national who was arrested near the city of Cologne, in western Germany, in November 2022, and found guilty of espionage against supporters of the RIF movement in August 2023.