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The Criminal Chamber of First Instance at the Court of Appeal in Al Hoceima has sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for attempting to kill a mosque imam with a bladed weapon during Eid al-Fitr prayers at a mosque in the Tabrant commune, in Al Hoceima province.
The court also ordered the defendant to pay 50,000 dirhams in civil compensation to the imam, after the public prosecutor’s office charged him with attempted premeditated murder.
The incident dates back to the morning of Eid, when the defendant brought a bladed weapon into the mosque and concealed it under his djellaba before suddenly attacking the imam inside the prayer niche, taking advantage of the worshippers’ focus on the prayer. The imam managed to fend off the attacker and grapple with him before several worshippers intervened and overpowered the assailant, helping to avert a potential tragedy inside the mosque.
The attack left the imam with serious injuries to his left hand, requiring his urgent transfer to the Hassan II University Hospital in Fez, where he underwent emergency surgery. Security services, meanwhile, launched an investigation under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor’s office to determine the full circumstances of the incident.
