The Criminal Court of Ceuta has ordered the expulsion from Spain of eleven Moroccan citizens detained for their involvement in the attack suffered this Thursday by a military patrol of the Regulars Group in the Benzú area, after they accepted a two-year prison sentence for a crime of assault against law enforcement officers.
According to the sentence issued this Friday after an agreement was reached between the Prosecutor’s Office and the defenses, the custodial sentence has been replaced by expulsion from the national territory, with a prohibition to return to Spain for five years.
The eleven convicted acknowledged their participation in the events and showed their agreement with the penalty proposed by the Public Ministry, which allowed the holding of a plea hearing and avoided the trial.
According to the facts recorded in the judicial resolution, the accused were part of a group of irregular migrants who were near Benzú and who allegedly had prepared an action against vehicles passing through the area. Ultimately, the target of the attack was a military patrol of Regulars.
During the assault, stones were thrown at the vehicle in which the soldiers were traveling, an incident that resulted in four personnel injured of varying severity. After the events, the security forces deployed an operation that ended with the arrest of twelve people.
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The procedural situation of the twelfth arrested differs from that of the rest involved. The accused rejected the agreement proposed by the Prosecutor’s Office and denied having participated in the assault.
During his court appearance, he stated that he was sleeping at the time the police intervention took place and completely dissociated his presence in the area from the investigated events.
Due to the lack of agreement with the accusation, the judge agreed to keep him in pretrial detention while the criminal procedure continues and the date for the corresponding trial is set.
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