Italy's Division of General Investigations and Special Operations (DIGOS) arrested Moroccan-Italian Elmahdi Halili on Tuesday morning, May 28. Halili is considered the author of the first jihadist propaganda texts in Italian. Arrested in Turin, the 29-year-old is accused of terrorist association and was believed to be an ISIS ideologue in Italy, according to investigators. Halili was arrested twice before, in 2015 and 2018, on charges of terrorism and links to ISIS. He was accused of carrying out online radicalization campaigns. After his conviction, the sentence became irrevocable in 2022 and his Italian citizenship was revoked. In July 2023, Halili was released from prison and was expected to be returned to Morocco. However, his extradition was reportedly delayed due to unspecified bureaucratic hurdles. According to investigators, Halili became more radicalized in prison, where he openly declared his membership in ISIS. In a letter sent during his imprisonment, Halili presented himself as a «sleeper cell» ready to act to «neutralize the enemy».
