A criminal court in Ceuta has ordered the deportation of 11 Moroccan nationals and barred them from returning to Spain for five years after convicting them over a stone-throwing attack on a military patrol that injured four soldiers, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported.
The defendants were initially sentenced to two years in prison for assaulting security officers. Their prison sentences were subsequently replaced with deportation to Morocco following an agreement between prosecutors and the defense, according to the report.
The 11 men admitted to participating in the attack, allowing the case to be resolved through a plea hearing without a full trial, El Mundo reported.
A 12th detainee rejected the agreement with prosecutors and denied any involvement in the incident. He told authorities that he had been asleep when police carried out the operation and had no connection to the attack.
The judge ordered the 12th suspect to remain in pretrial detention while proceedings continue. A trial date will be set at a later stage.
According to the court ruling, the defendants were part of a group of undocumented migrants in the Benzu area of Ceuta who allegedly planned to target vehicles passing through the area.
A military patrol from the Regulares unit was subsequently attacked with stones, leaving four soldiers with injuries of varying severity.
Security forces launched an operation following the attack and arrested 12 people in connection with the incident.
Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on Morocco’s northern coast, is one of Spain’s two territories in North Africa and has long been a major point of migration pressure along the country’s southern border.
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