A military tribunal in Somalia has handed down death sentences to six individuals from Morocco affiliated with the Islamic State. The court’s deputy chairman, Col Ali Ibrahim Osman, asserted that the men had arrived in Somalia to support ISIS, engaging in destructive activities and causing bloodshed.
The sentenced individuals have one month to file an appeal; failure to succeed will result in execution by a firing squad.
The defendants’ lawyer argued that they were misled into joining ISIS and are now seeking deportation to Morocco. Notably, this marks the first instance in the semi-autonomous Puntland region where foreigners have been charged and sentenced for joining ISIS.
In addition to the death sentences, the military court sentenced an Ethiopian and a Somali to 10 years in prison each. Another Somali defendant was released due to insufficient evidence.
The arrests took place in the Cal-Miskaat mountains, a stronghold of ISIS in the east of Bosaso, Puntland’s commercial hub.
The Somali branch of ISIS, formed in 2015 by defectors from the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab group, is known for extorting locals and primarily carries out small-scale, sporadic attacks. The country typically issues the death penalty for crimes related to terrorism, a practice criticized by various local and international human rights groups, including The Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders.
A recent report by this coalition and other rights groups indicated at least 55 executions in Somalia last year, with 23 carried out by military authorities in Puntland and Mogadishu.
