Counter-terror worker convicted of mishandling State secrets; Acquitted of espionage
The court in Rotterdam convicted Abderrahim El M. of mishandling state secrets and sentenced him to 20 months in prison. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended 12 years in prison, accusing the former analyst for the counterterrorism agency NCTV of espionage and leaking state secrets to Morocco for years. But the court saw insufficient evidence to prove that he passed along sensitive information and acquitted the 66-year-old man of espionage in its ruling on Wednesday, ANP reported.
El M. worked at the NCTV for years, as an expert on Salafism and jihadism, regularly writing reports on this subject for the counterterrorism agency. According to the OM, he simultaneously worked as a spy for the Moroccan secret service, at least since 2020, allegedly exploiting the Dutch authorities’ trust in him to pass on large amounts of classified information.
In 2023, the intelligence service AIVD caught El M. printing confidential documents at work. He was arrested at Schiphol Airport shortly before flying to Morocco. The authorities found several USB drives on him, containing a large amount of data, including over 900 classified documents.
El M. denied the allegations against him during his closing statement in court. He called the criminal case against him “absurd,” among other things, vehemently and emotionally denying that he gave any state secrets to anyone. “I did what I had to do for the Netherlands. I’m extremely proud of that. Together with my colleagues, I kept the country safe.” The Rotterdam man admitted to having many work documents at his home, blaming it on his tendency to collect and “hoard” things.
His lawyer asked the court to acquit El M. He argued that the evidence against his client was weak and pointed to the indispensable role he played at the NCTV for years.
The court ruled that El M. was not allowed to take state secrets home with him, and that his contact with employees of the Moroccan secret service, and his printing and scanning activities before his trips to Morocco, did raise questions. But there is no evidence that he transferred state secrets to Morocco or intended to do so. “The crucial link in the evidence is missing,” the judge said.
The court sentenced El M. to 20 months in prison for mishandling state secrets, saying that he handled these sensitive documents carelessly. “They were scattered throughout his home, even though it was not permitted to take this state secret information outside of the office environment.” The sentence is equal to the time the suspect spent in pre-trial detention.
