The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected an appeal filed by Morocco’s Said Mansour, who is involved in the 2003 Casablanca terrorist attack, against being deported to the Kingdom, reports Danish newspaper The Local.
Mansour was recently handed down to the Moroccan authorities in Morocco, weeks before the decision was endorsed by the court.
«This appears to be a thorough, well-considered decision, which we take into account», his lawyer Michael Juul Eriksen told Ritzau news agency. «(N)o one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment», he added.
Indeed, Said Mansour claimed before that he might be subjected to torture in Morocco. In its response to Mansour’s appeal, the court ruled that «the human rights situation in Morocco has generally improved over several years, and that authorities are working to comply with international human rights».
After Mansour was extradited by the Danish authorities on January the 4th, Morocco’s ambassador to Denmark said that the man «will be fairly treated» by the authorities in the Kingdom.
In a letter sent on January the 9th, Moroccan ambassador Khadija Rouissi confirmed that Mansour is being held in custody in the Kingdom after he was denaturalized and expelled by Copenhagen.
Said Mansour was sent to Morocco after a series of negotiations between the Moroccan and Danish authorities, the same source says. The man has been convicted several times in Denmark for inciting terrorism and was deprived of his Danish citizenship by the Danish Supreme Court in 2016.
Mansour was sentenced in July 2015 to four years in prison for spreading terrorist propaganda. He was accused of producing and distributing CDs, DVDs and messages online and on Facebook, glorifying terrorist groups.
Mansour was sent back home based on an agreement, ensuring that he wouldn’t be subjected to torture, reported DR citing the Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration Inger Støjberg.