Thursday, June 26, 2025 – HAN
The families of Moroccan nationals held in a prison in Garowe, Puntland, have appealed for their sons to be returned to their home country without any conditions.
Six Moroccan citizens, previously sentenced to death by firing squad before any formal charges were filed and later ordered to be deported, have made an urgent appeal to the Moroccan government and people to assist in securing their return home.
The families of these detainees officially submitted a complaint on May 19 to the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, calling for immediate intervention in the situation affecting their children. Despite a court order mandating their release and deportation within a year and a half, the men remain imprisoned.
One of the detainees gave a recorded statement to the Al-Oumk newspaper, claiming they were victims of a setup. He said they had arrived in Somalia seeking legitimate employment opportunities, but were falsely accused of belonging to the ISIS group.
The families’ complaints confirmed that their sons had traveled to Somalia intending to work under employment contracts, but were deceived shortly after arrival and implicated in alleged involvement with the group calling itself the Islamic State (ISIS).
Nonetheless, on March 2, 2024, the Military Court in Bosaso, Puntland, sentenced the six Moroccan men to death by firing squad after finding them guilty of being members of the ISIS group.
