The man accused of involvement in Tunisia’s Bardo Museum attack in March insisted on his innocence and refused a voluntary handover to Tunisian authorities, reported AP.
Abdelmajid Touil, the 22-year-old Moroccan migrant who came to Italy by boat in February, had his first hearing on Friday in Milan after police arrested him on a Tunisian arrest warrant for allegedly helping plan and carry out the March 18 attack, which killed 22 people.
Italian police told Reuters that Tunisian authorities believe Touil to have been involved in the attack. However, Italian investigators are “99 percent sure” Touil was in Italy at the time of the museum attack, a source told Reuters Thursday.
The man’s mother, Fatima Touil, who lives in an apartment outside Milan, also maintains her son was in Italy during the massacre. “He doesn’t have ties with any terrorists,” she told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
However, some are suspicious as to why Touil arrived to Italy via migrant boat, despite his mother’s resident status, which would have allowed him to travel to Italy legally.
According to Reuters, Tunisia says it has arrested most of the people responsible for the museum attack.
Italy refuses to extradite people to countries that utilize capital punishment, including Tunisia, which may complicate any extradition procedures that occur.
