The Criminal Court of Ceuta has ordered the expulsion from Spain of eleven Moroccan citizens detained for their involvement in the attack registered this Thursday against a patrol of the Regulars Group in the area of Benzú, after accepting a two-year prison sentence for a crime of assault against agents of the authority.
According to the ruling issued this Friday, once an agreement was reached between the Prosecutor's Office and the defenses, the prison sentence imposed on the accused has been replaced by expulsion from the national territory, accompanied by a prohibition on re-entering Spain for a period of five years.
The eleven defendants admitted their participation in the events and expressed their agreement with the proposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office, which allowed for a plea hearing and rendered unnecessary a full oral trial.
The judicial resolution details that the accused were part of a group of migrants in an irregular situation who were in the vicinity of Benzú and who, allegedly, had prepared an action against vehicles circulating in that area. Ultimately, the attack was directed against a military patrol of Regulars.
During the aggression, stones were thrown at the vehicle in which the soldiers were traveling, an episode that resulted in four personnel injured to varying degrees. Following these events, the security forces activated a device that ended with the detention of twelve people.
The procedural situation of the twelfth arrested person is different from the others. This accused rejected the agreement offered by the Prosecutor's Office and denied any involvement in the aggression.
In his statement before the judge, he claimed that he was sleeping when the police intervention occurred and completely distanced himself from the investigated events and from his presence at the scene of the attack.
In the absence of agreement with the accusation, the magistrate decided to maintain his provisional detention while the processing of the criminal case continues and the date for the corresponding trial is set.