A German court gave a Moroccan man a suspended sentence Thursday after finding him guilty of spying on supporters of a Moroccan protest group. The 36-year-old was given a suspended sentence of one year and nine months, a spokeswoman for the higher regional court in Duesseldorf said. He was also ordered to pay a 4,300 euros ($4,600) fine. The accused was arrested in the Cologne area last November.
According to federal prosecutors the man had worked for a Moroccan intelligence service, spying on members of the Hirak protest movement. He received airline tickets in return. The court found that the accused had passed on information about two German-Moroccans living in Germany.
In handing down the sentence, judges took into account that the accused had already spent nine months in pre-trial detention. Prosecutors had sought a prison term of two and a half years. The Al-Hirak al-Shaabi (“Popular Movement”) emerged in northern Morocco’s Rif region in 2016 following anger over the death of a fishmonger crushed by a bin lorry as he tried to recover swordfish seized by police. It sparked protests demanding development in the long-marginalised Berber region. The protests led to dozens of arrests.
