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A Moroccan national was sentenced to 12 years in prison, Tuesday, in Portugal for recruiting people to fight in Syria and for financing terrorism, Reuters reports.
The 65-year-old Moroccan, Abdesselam Tazi, was found guilty of seven crimes. He was accused of «financing the recruitment using forged credit cards», the British news agency said.
«The sentencing caught me by surprise», Lopes Guerreiro, Tazi’s lawyer, told reporters after the court’s ruling, adding that he would file an appeal.
«The individual was absolved of belonging to an international terrorist organization but he was condemned for having recruited people for an organization he is not part of», Guerreiro added.
Thread: Abdesselam Tazi, a 65 year old morrocan sentenced to 12 years for recruiting and terrorism financing. this is the first ISIS related conviction in Portugal https://t.co/OZnUjLb24S
— Nuno Tiago Pinto (@ntpinto23) 9 juillet 2019
Tazi was arrested in March, 2018, in Germany and was extradited to Portugal. In April, 2019, the Moroccan national appeared in court and was charged by the Portuguese public prosecutor of several counts : «joining a terrorist organization, another of forgery for the purpose of terrorism and four crimes of using fake documents for financing terrorism».
According to a statement released upon his arrest by the Portuguese public prosecutor, Tazi was the subject of a European arrest warrant issued by Portugal.
The same source revealed at the time that Tazi is a former Moroccan policeman who had lived in the region of Aveiro. In October 2013, he was granted asylum in Portugal.
Moreover, investigators suspected him of having recruited a young compatriot, Hicham El-Hanafi, 27 years old. The latter had been arrested in Marseille, where he was about to carry a terrorist attack.
This case is the first of its kind in the Iberian country, where the number of citizens suspected of joining ISIS is «not significant», Reuters said, quoting Portugal’s justice minister.
