Former rapper Abdel Bary on trial for jihadist terrorism found dead in his cell

The British ex-rapper of Egyptian origin Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary has been found dead in his prison cell where he was admitted, without the cause of his death being known at the moment.

Penitentiary sources have confirmed this Wednesday the death of the alleged jihadist, who had recently been tried at the National Court.

The prison has informed the duty court of the death, which will open an investigation to find out the causes, as well as Penitentiary Institutions. Before, the body will be autopsied.

On the 14th of this month, the trial against the former rapper, alias L. Jinny, who in 2020 arrived in Almería by boat from Algeria and was detained by the Police for the “risk to national security” represented by the fact that he was a returnee from Syria, according to the prosecutor in his final conclusions.

Why was he sentenced?

In that last session of the trial, the representative of the Public Ministry maintained his request for 9 years in prison for the former rapper and 7 and 8 years for the other two defendants with whom he was arrested.

He accused the three of them of forming a jihadist cell dedicated to committing banking scams on the internet and trafficking cryptocurrencies to “finance their terrorist activities.”

The prosecutor defended the police action, questioned by the defenses, and stated that the arrest was made urgently on suspicion that Abdel Bary was a fighter for the Islamic State in Syria.

Interpol notified the Police of the entry of these three people into Spain and that led to the arrests, according to the prosecutor.

The defense alleges irregularities in the arrests

For his part, Abdel Bary's lawyer asked that the proceedings for irregularities in the arrests be annulled and that, in any case, he be acquitted because it has not been proven at any time that he led a terrorist cell.

In that session, Abdel Bary used his right to the last word to influence the same ideas as his lawyer and argued that the terrorist cells are led by a religious guide or imam and that he lacked that authority.