Taroudant, Morocco- In an attempt to tighten its grip on extremists who seek to join the ranks of the Islamic State (IS), the Moroccan government strengthened its anti-terrorism legislation on Thursday by adopting a bill to fight against jihadism in Syria and Iraq.
The new bill includes a new section of the Criminal Code providing for prosecution against anyone who "endorses or tries to rally individually or collectively . . . entities, organizations, bands or terrorist groups," "even if terrorist acts are not intended to carry out harm to Morocco or its interests."
An amendment to the Code of Penal Procedure allows the kingdom also to prosecute foreign terrorists present on its territory.
After the weekly meeting, Mustafa Ramid, the Minister of Justice and Liberties, said, "The bill was adopted by the Council of Government in order to protect our young people, to prevent them from traveling to war zones.”
"Anyone who seeks to join these dangerous areas will be put on trial," he added.
A report published by CNN earlier this month said that over 1,500 Moroccans have joined the ranks of terrorist groups in Syria, including IS.
The same report ranked Morocco third in terms of countries that have sent the most jihadists to Syria. 1,500 Moroccan jihadists are fighting in Syria, followed by Russia (800 jihadists) and France (700 jihadists).
Edited by Elisabeth Myers