Morocco’s Ministry of Interior has been tightening its stranglehold on Islamist organizations, reported the daily newspaper Assabah on Tuesday.
The ministry’s representatives have been instructed to strictly surveil various Islamist groups, including the Movement of Unit and Reform (MUR), the Tablighi Jamaat, and associations that support the Salafist detainees.
This decision follows the ministry’s mission to ensure security and keep an eye on any Islamist organizations that contain extremist members “who excitedly interact with political incidents on social media platforms,” the newspaper noted.
The source recalled the arrest of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) members who glorified the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey in late December, saying that their posts harmed the domestic and foreign policy of Morocco.
The ministry has instructed its representatives across the country to maintain up-to-date intelligence on “members in any organization the defend a particular ideology” in order to preserve their control.
Assabah also referenced a document circulating online classifying the MUR and the “illegal” Adl Wal Ihssane as the most important organizations to be kept under surveillance.
Following the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, the ministry issued a communiqué warning that any citizens expressing sympathy for acts of terrorism or those who commit them may face imprisonment.
