By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in Germany on Monday remanded a Moroccan national for allegedly spying on fellow Moroccans residing in Germany who are part of a movement opposed to their country’s authorities.
Mohamed A. was arrested in the western city of Cologne, Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
His premises were also searched.
The office said he is “strongly suspected of having worked for a Moroccan intelligence service” during the period between mid-April 2021 and March 2022.
“He shared information on at least one person,” the office said.
The suspect is alleged to have spied on supporters of the HIRAK movement, a Moroccan protest movement which erupted in late 2016 in the northern, impoverished Rif area, after a hawker was crushed to death in a garbage truck when he tried to retrieve the fish he was selling from the police.
The movement’s leader, Nasser Zefzafi, was later arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
