RABAT (Dispatches) – A Moroccan activist has been sentenced to two years in prison for “incitement to hatred” over social media posts praising a stabbing operation in the Israeli-occupied territories, his lawyer says.
Redouane El Kastit, a member of the al-Adl Wal Ihssane movement, was sentenced by a court in Tangier, his lawyer Mohamed Serroukh told AFP.
El Kastit was arrested on February 5 and charged with “incitement to hatred,” “discrimination,” and “insulting a public body” after about 15 posts he made on Facebook, his lawyer said.
According to the prosecution, the posts described a late-January operation against five Zionists in Tel Aviv as the start of a “blessed campaign.”
El Kastit denied making the posts on social media, the lawyer added.
He was also accused of posting a photo of the fighter and praising his Moroccan identity.
The lawyer said he will appeal the “harsh ruling.”
Zionist troops shot and killed a young Palestinian man in Tel Aviv on January 18, deep inside the Israeli-occupied territories, over the alleged stabbing attack.
The Israel Police claimed in a statement that the man had stabbed Israelis on Levontin Street, seriously injuring them, before being shot and killed by an armed settler at the scene.