Morocco sentences 27
2004-06-06 09:22
Rabat - A Moroccan court on Saturday sentenced 27 Moroccan Islamists to up to eight years in jail for planning to carry out "terrorist" attacks, judicial officials in Rabat said.
Those sentenced had been charged with belonging to a criminal group who were planning to "prepare and commit terrorist acts", as well as holding unauthorized meetings and attacking sacred values, according to the charge sheet.
The jail terms ranged from suspended sentences of two years to eight years in prison.
The 27 were jailed as part of a major crackdown across Morocco, which began in the wake of the suicide bombing in Casablanca in May 2003, killing 45 people.
More than 2 100 people have been charged or sentenced since the attacks under anti-terrorist laws, the Moroccan justice minister said on May 17.