The National Court has sentenced the imam of a mosque in Getafe (Madrid), who also worked as a teacher in the madrasa, to five years and six months in prison for crimes of self-indoctrination and exaltation of terrorism, for inciting others, through networks social networks and digital messaging channels, to carry out acts of extreme violence and terrorist character, as well as to train himself to carry them out.
In a ruling, the magistrates consider that the activities carried out by Bilal Jfita pose “a serious concrete and certain danger of carrying out terrorist actions by himself and by third parties.”
The resolution states that the investigation into the defendant arose as a result of the personal and Internet contacts that he had had with Noussa El Morabit, detained by international order from Morocco and who would have fought in the ranks of the terrorist organizations Al Nusra and DAESH.
In the search of his home, the agents seized four mobile phones (some of which he used for his private life and others for the dissemination of jihadist content), two microSD cards, a USB device and several handwritten documents.
Once the material was analyzed, the investigation revealed that the defendant actively participated in up to 41 jihadist-themed WhatsApp groups on Telegram and WhatsApp and that he had numerous material with violent content. In one of the terminals, he accumulated 150 videos with images of deaths, executions, and murders through violent methods that he exchanged with third parties, for which he adopted various security measures.
After examining all the content of their devices, the Chamber concludes that “Bilal Jfita, through the Internet, and adopting security measures, accessed documentation, videos, photographs and audios, prepared by terrorist organizations, to train recipients in the principles and foundations of these organizations and provide necessary training for the commission of attacks.â€
He points out that the defendant trained himself to indoctrinate third parties through his position as Imam in the Getafe mosque, and on social networks, justifying the commission of jihadist terrorist attacks. And with this, he adds, he intended to “train himself with this training, and also disseminate it to third parties so that they could access this instruction, with the intention of preparing to effectively join the radical jihad fighters in their violent actions.” and to encourage others to do the same.
In the opinion of the Court, in this case the double malicious activity of the defendant is clear (self-indoctrination and exaltation) since, adopting security measures to avoid being identified, “in addition to inciting (…) he trained himself to carry them out himself , through the collection and storage of information not only regarding religious issues and doctrines of an extremist nature, but also about the training of the mujahideen and executors of suicide operations, and military exercises, executions perpetrated by jihadist terrorists, instructions to commit attacks, etc. .; thus creating with all of this a serious concrete and certain danger of carrying out terrorist actions by itself and by third partiesâ€.
The sentence indicates that the activity carried out by Bilal Jfita was simultaneous to the development of his functions as imam of the Allstikama mosque in Getafe and as a teacher at the madrasa. He explains that the defendant used the facilities of said mosque to contact the jihadist environment through social networks.
Likewise, it indicates that more than twenty sermons written by the defendant on WhatsApp and forwarded to himself have been found, in which topics such as the home, the family or the Islamic New Year are discussed “and contain references to the mujahideen and jihad in the final pleas.
Regarding the defendant’s allegations of not having had any relationship with DAESH, of not having collaborated with jihadists returned from Syria, of never having thought of committing attacks or of never having delivered a radical jihadist-type sermon, the Court argues that the The veracity of the self-exculpatory allegations “is contradicted by the abundant testimonial and expert evidence practiced in the trial.”
