A French convert to Islam was convicted and sentenced to life in prison Thursday on charges of trying to organize an uprising in the North African nation.
The three-judge panel deliberated for more than 12 hours in the Moroccan capital of Rabat before reaching its verdict on Pierre Robert, 31.
On the trial’s last day, Robert made a final plea of innocence and asked Morocco’s king to intervene on his behalf.
Robert and 33 others on trial with him were arrested in a crackdown after May 16 suicide bombings in Casablanca that killed 45, including 12 bombers.
Robert’s case is not directly related to the bombings. Prosecutors say Robert led a network of Islamic militants in northern Morocco plotting an uprising. He was found guilty of “forming a criminal gang in relation with a terrorist enterprise.”
