Morocco jails six for hailing Russian envoy Ankara murder on Facebook

A court in Sale, near the capital Rabat, condemned the six Moroccans late on Thursday and fined them 10,000 dirhams (115 euros) each for "incitement of terrorist acts," the official news agency MAP reported on Friday.

Lawyer Abdessamad al-Idrissi, a member of the Islamist PJD (Justice and Development Party), criticised what he called the "exaggerated and sorry" sentencing of the young Moroccans who "represent the country's elite".

They were detained shortly after the murder of Ambassador Andrei Karlov, who was gunned down at an exhibition opening in Ankara by a Turkish police officer crying "don't forget Aleppo", in what Moscow called a "terrorist act".

Their arrest sparked criticism from within the PJD, which heads Morocco's ruling coalition.

They were convicted for comments on Facebook hailing Karlov's murder and condemning Russian military deployment in support of the regime in the Syrian conflict.

Russia is on the opposite side of the Syrian conflict from Turkey, with Moscow backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Ankara supporting those seeking to topple him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned at the time that the killing of Karlov was a "provocation" aimed at damaging ties with Turkey and undermining the latest efforts to reach a settlement on Syria. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed a new ambassador to Turkey last month.