47 Convicted in Moroccan Suicide Bombing
The NY Times posted a brief report that 47 people have been convicted in connection to a 2007 Internet cafe bombing in Casablanca.
Through the investigation police discovered a plot involving dozens of suspects planning to attack Casablanca’s port and police stations, as well as tourist sites around Morocco.
The BBC posted a much more in depth story about the convictions.
The BBC's James Copnall reported that there are currently nearly 1,000 Islamic radicals in Moroccan jails, and that human rights groups have accused authorities of making arrests on false or flimsy evidence.
The harshest sentence received was 30-years, and 44 others people were sentenced to between two and 15 years. One person received a suspended sentence, and four others were acquitted.
The leader of the plot detonated explosives to avoid being arrested after the cafe owner caught him viewing jihadist websites and attempted to stop him.
The blast occurred in a slum area of the city that was home to 13 suicide bombers who carried out a series of suicide bombings in 2003 which left 33 people dead.