M’hamed Garouan

M’hamed Garouan, a Moroccan citizen born in 1954, was the imam of the Muslim community of Sellia Marina, in the province of Catanzaro. He was arrested in January 2011, at the age of 57, together with his son Brahim, 25, and one of his friends, Younes Dahhaki, 28.
M’hamed was arrested during operation “Hanein” conducted jointly by the DIGOS of Catanzaro and the postal police. The charge was of training for the purpose of terrorism (Article 270 quinquies). According to authorities he would train on online material retrieved by his son Brahim, and he would also show and propagandise that material at the Islamic centre. The material included practical manuals on the fabrication of bombs, but also propaganda pieces such as videos of terrorist attacks and executions, particularly linked to the then-called ISI. Authorities defined him as close to the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), an Algerian group linked to al-Qaeda.
Six months after the arrests, in July 2011, the Supreme Court requested the annulment of the measure of preventive custody, on the grounds that while the three individuals were training, nothing indicated they would have been able or intended to carry out a terrorist attack. Therefore, the criminal case against them was dismissed.
After being released, he and Brahim went back to Morocco. His son would later go to Syria to fight against Assad’s regime, joining jihadist formations. There he would die in 2014.
In November of that year Italian authorities found the Italian state owned the three men roughly 60 000 euros each for the wrongful detention they endured in 2011.