GUILTY Morocco - Maren Ueland, 28, & Louisa Jespersen, 24, backpackers, beheaded, Dec 2018 *Arrests*

[ZaZara]

Justice Minister: Morocco is Taking Steps Toward Ending Death Penalty

The Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty has reiterated its call to the government to remove the death penalty from the country’s Penal Code.

During a meeting with his general assembly on Friday in Rabat in the presence of justice minister Mohamed Aujjar, the coalition’s coordinator, Abderrahim El Jamii, stressed the need to“fight” for human rights and abolish the death penalty.

El Jamii urged Aujjar to join the Moroccans calling for abolition, while emphasizing that the minister’s attendance at the meeting gave hope and opened a new “political and human rights chapter.”

El Jamii, on behalf of the coalition, pointed out the incompatibility between Article 20 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life to all human beings and the Penal Code, which allows the death penalty.


BBM


Hell yeah..... Why is it that these groups of lawyers and activists never care about the victims? You see this happening all around the Western world. Lawyers seem to have embraced the rights of the perpetrators, the more cruel the better. Because abolishing the death penalty is only the first step. The next step is terminating life sentences. And after that, no doubt they will find something new to pamper murderers and terrorists.

Whatever happened to the right to life of Louisa and Maren? They are human too.

 

[ZaZara]

Tech-giganter sporer drabsvideo for dansk politi


Today, the public prosecutor in Viborg decided that East Jutland Police will be in charge of the investigation of the video sharing of the murders of Maren Ueland and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen.

The two Scandinavian women were killed in Morocco on 17 December.

Sharing the violent murder video can be illegal.

Østjyllands Politi does not yet have a final overview of the number of cases from the country's police districts, but not only collaborates with colleagues around the country, but also gets help from tech giants Facebook and Google to collect cases.

- We have a good and close dialogue with both Danish and Norwegian police in the work to ensure that this video is not shared on Facebook, Peter Mønster, communications manager for Facebook in Denmark, writes in a message to DR News.

We have a solid process for the kind of inquiries from the police that take into account the investigation, while protecting the privacy of our users, it says.

The same message comes from Google, which owns the most widely used video service online, Youtube.

"We collaborate with the Danish authorities to prevent the video from being shared on Google and Youtube," political director at Google in Denmark, Christine Sørensen, writes in an email.

Yesterday, the Danish Prosecutor's Office stated that the very violent murder video has been shared and seen by a large group of people in Denmark, and that the sharing of the video according to their opinion is illegal.

"Therefore, I urge people to refrain from dealing with it," said prosecutor Kirsten Dyrmann to Ritzau.

Østjyllands Politi also urges the public to stay far away from the murder video from Morocco.

"If you receive the video, delete it immediately. It can be a deeply shocking and unpleasant experience for both children and adults to see it. We are aware that the video circulates in large numbers among schoolchildren, and we therefore encourage the parents to talk to their children about not sharing the video with others," according to chief police inspector Klaus Arboe Rasmussen in a press release.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Imlil killings : Morocco’s ambassador to Norway attends the funeral of Maren Ueland

The funeral of Maren Ueland took place Monday, January the 21st, in Time, a municipality in Rogaland county. The church service was attended by Morocco’s ambassador to Norway, Lamia Radi, Norway’s health minister and several dozen students from the University of Southeastern Norway, where Maren and her Danish friend used to study, reports AFP quoted by the Daily Mail.

Ahead of the service, the Moroccan ambassador told TV2 that «Morocco wanted to be present today to express first its solidarity, to share the sorrow of the family».

«At the same time, (we want) to make it very clear that we strongly condemn the horrible murders of those innocent girls», added the diplomat.

Lamia Radi also denounced the «barbary» and «ignominy» of the killings, reading aloud «messages from Moroccan people expressing their sadness».


BBM


Rest in Peace Maren Ueland

 

[ZaZara]

The Copenhagen Post - Danish News in English

Morocco steps up mountain security following Scandinavian murders
The Moroccan authorities are introducing stricter security criteria following the murder of Danish hiker Louise Vesterager Jespersen and her Norwegian friend Maren Ueland in the Atlas mountains in December. From now on, tourists will be required to have an authorised guide when they visit the mountains, a curfew of 16:00 will be introduced in relation to scaling North Africa’s highest peak, Mt Toubkal, and tourists will no longer be able to sleep in tents. Registration at local police stations will also be required.

 

[ZaZara]

Forsvarer for siktet etter Marokko-drapene: – Min klient brøt med terroristene

Defending counsel for the Morocco killings: - My client broke with the terrorists-


"My client knew the accused, but has nothing to do with the double murders." This is said by Sahli, a lawyer who defends a Swiss-Spanish man after the murders of Maren Ueland and Louise Vesterager Jespersen in Morocco.Today, there was a prison meeting for the over 20 indicted in this case in Salé outside Rabat.
Among those who have to face the court is a man with Swiss and Spanish citizenship and a British citizen, the rest of the accused is Moroccan. "He learned about Islam from terrorists and he joined them, but then he broke off contacts with them about a year ago," Saad Sahli stated. He says his client, who has a Spanish mother and Swiss father, knew the others charged with the case, but that he did not share the same ideology as them.

Norwegian Maren Ueland (28) from Bryne in Rogaland and Danish Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (24) were found murdered in a hiking area near the village of Imlil in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco on Monday 17 December.
"My client and the accused have discussed IS videos and they have talked about IS and similar topics. But he was dragged into this case because the others have mentioned his name in here. He has been a victim of these criminals," the lawyer claims. He shows among other things the four alleged perpetrators who have published a video in which they sworn allegiance to the extremist group IS.

The Swiss citizen moved to Morocco in 2015. According to Moroccan intelligence, he has been in contact with IS operations in Syria and he would have videos of decapitations in his possession. He would also have called for terrorist attacks on tourists and security guards in Morocco, the head of Morocco's intelligence service BCIJ said. The man's lawyer denies that his client has done anything illegal and expects him to be acquitted. "There is no evidence that he has been involved in anything criminal."

Sahli believes the main suspect should get the death penalty and expects the trial to be fair, partly because there is an admission, he says."These are dangerous men who threaten world peace when they kill foreigners. I think they can get life in prison, but it is fair if they are executed because of what they have done.

- When does the case go to court? "I think the judge needs several months so it may be the summer. But in the worst case, it can take a year, longer than they can't be in prison without a judgment," lawyer Saad Sahli says.


BBM

 

[Pi Thoughts]

A Swiss man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Moroccan terrorism court for links to Islamic extremists who allegedly killed two tourists last year.

The 33-year-old was convicted of charges including deliberately helping perpetrators of terrorist acts and training terrorists, according to state news agency MAP.

The verdict was handed down on Thursday (local time).
Swiss man jailed over female tourist murders in Morocco

 

[JerseyGirl]

Suspected jihadist sympathisers will face trial on May 2 for the murder of two Scandinavian women in Morocco.

Twenty-four defendants will face trial -- for charges including promoting terrorism, forming a terrorist cell or causing premeditated harm to persons -- in Sale, a city neighbouring the capital Rabat, according to defence lawyer Saad Sahli.

A Spanish-Swiss man who authorities allege subscribed to "extremist ideology" stands accused of helping the four main suspects in the murder, charges he denies.

Morocco tourist murder trial to open on May 2

 

[JerseyGirl]

Scandinavian hikers murder trial begins

 

[ZaZara]

Bistandsadvokat ønsker dødsstraff

The double murders in Morocco
Assistant Attorney wants the death penalty

The four men who are supposed to be behind the double murder in Morocco should be sentenced to death, according to the Danish family aid lawyer.

In December last year, Norwegian Maren Ueland (28) and Danish Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (24) were killed in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The already postponed trial is scheduled to start on May 16.

- I hear that the prosecutor will ask for the death penalty for three or four main defendants. I totally agree with that. The killers have done horrific acts and are still a danger to Morocco - and to the world, says Khalil El Fataoui, the lawyer of the family of the late Danish woman Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, to Dagbladet.

There are a total of 24 men who are prosecuted in the double-murder case and who will appear in court. Lawyer El Fataoui does not believe that all 24 should receive the death penalty.

- But the four main targets are not humans, but evil criminals behaving worse than animals. They should get the death penalty, and I'm pretty sure that's what they end up with, he says to Dagbladet.

Dagbladet refers to the fact that no one gets the death penalty in Norway or Denmark, but is wondering if it is the Danish family who has expressed a desire for an outcome.

- They want the trial to be carried out and that those responsible are punished. But not what punishment it will be. It is up to Moroccan law, since the cruel killings were committed here, responds El Fataou lawyer

It was the Moroccan website bladi.net who reported the lawyer's death penalty-wish last night.

- I was warned to go out and be so clear about the death penalty because it gives me a security risk. The killers have several supporters. But I'm far from alone to think so. My mother still cries for the murdered women every single day. The crime was terrible and must be punished accordingly, El Fataoui says.

He refers to opinion polls that show that a majority of Moroccans want those responsible for the murders of the two Scandinavian tourists to receive the death penalty.

Although some of the defendants may ultimately be sentenced to death, it is far from certain that a death sentence will actually be carried out. Since 1993, Morocco has not carried out death sentences, despite the fact that over 100 people with a death penalty conviction are locked up in the country's prisons.

- Morocco has not carried out the death penalty since 1993, no. But now, the majority in Morocco wants those responsible to get their punishment, with death as a result. But time will tell what happens, says El Fataoui to Dagbladet.
Dagbladet has tried to get in touch with the lawyer of the Norwegian family, but for the time being without success.

Saad Sahli, the lawyer of the Swiss-Spanish citizen who is charged with helping in the planning of the terrorist act, says his client still believes he is innocent. He hopes that the case will be postponed until after Ramadan.

- I want more time for preparations and would prefer that the case be postponed until Ramadan is over, Sahli tells Dagbladet.

Maren Ueland and Louisa Vestager Jespersen were found murdered in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco in mid-December last year. Since then, Moroccan police and intelligence services have arrested 25 people in connection with the terrorist case.

One person, a Swiss-British citizen, has already been convicted.


BBM

 

[PrairieWind]

I'm not sure how i feel about the efforts to suppress the video and to criminally charge those that have disseminated it. Certainly the original purpose of the video and its original dissemination was to fuel Jihad and taunt the victim's family. Those original people should be punished severely. But there is also a part of me that wants people to see that video so that they can see what these people and their twisted ideology did.

 

[ZaZara]

Alleged ringleader of jihadi terror cell admits killing Scandinavian tourists | Daily Mail Online

The alleged leader of a jihadist cell accused of killing two Scandinavian hikers in Morocco has admitted he beheaded one of the women, saying the murders were carried out in the name of ISIS.

Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland had their throats slit while camping in the Atlas mountains in December.

'I beheaded one of them... I regret it,' former street vendor Abdessamad Ejjoud, 25, told the court, blaming co-defendant Younes Ouaziyad for killing the other hiker.

'We loved ISIS and we prayed to God for it,' he said.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Her er moren tilbake der Louisa (24) ble brutalt drept

Her mother went back to where Louisa (24) was brutally killed

For the first time, the mother of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (24) has been to the spot where her daughter was brutally killed in Morocco.

- I'm not particularly good about it. I will never see Louisa again, and it's hard to think about, Helle Vesterager Jespersen says to TV 2 Denmark.

December 17 last year she experienced a nightmare.

She sat and watched a Christmas programme on TV with her family, when she received a message from someone she knew.

- Have you heard anything from Louisa? they asked.

- I didn't think about it anymore, and some time passed. Then the doorbell rang. And when I saw the two uniformed policemen standing out there and asking "Are you the mother of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen" then I totally broke up, she says.

Last time Helle talked to her daughter was on her daughter's birthday, December 5 last year.

She wanted the daughter, who studied in Bø in Norway, to come home. Instead, she [the daughter] was going to Morocco to travel in the mountains.

- That was Louisa. The last thing I told her was that I loved her and that she should have a good trip in Morocco, she says.

On Thursday TV 2 Danmark publishes a documentary where they have travelled to Morocco together with the mother.

This was the first time she saw the place where her daughter, along with her Norwegian friend Maren Ueland, stayed the night they were murdered.

- I had to go down and see the place where the girls were murdered. I hope it can help me in the long run, so I can move on a little. Processing some things, she said before leaving.

In Morocco, she met those who had advised the two young women before setting out on the mountain trip.

Together with some local hikers, the mother and a Danish journalist hiked to the place where the two had camped.

- This was the last place she was, she said just before they reached the place.

When they finally arrived at the little house where her daughter's tent had been standing next to, she laid down a bouquet of flowers.

- We don't know how much pain they went through before they died. It was probably the worst. It's a terrible way to lose your life, she says.

It was after the two friends had settled on the evening of December 16 that they were attacked.

The killings were filmed and quickly spread on social media. The spread has been investigated by Kripos and the Danish police, and in March the police in Denmark charged 14 people.

"There were many who have sent us greetings, but in the pile of greetings online there were also several who had sent us the video showing the murder," says Helle says.

She has only seen a few seconds of the video herself.

- I just had to see that it was Louisa. Now I am eager to remember the good things of her life, she says.

About a week after the killings, four Moroccan men were arrested in the back of a bus in Marrakech. The men had sworn allegiance in a video to terrorist organization IS.

Since then, a number of people have been arrested, and today 24 people are charged with the murders. Only one of them acknowledges being responsible.

The trial has been postponed several times, but is scheduled to resume on Thursday 13 June.


BBM


How brave!

 

[LadyL]

I am glad to see the suspects being held accountable.

 

[ZaZara]

Dette var Marokko-terroristenes plan

RABAT (TV 2): The men who killed Maren Ueland (28) and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (24) planned to travel to West Africa to join Boko Haram. Now they fear the death penalty.

Thursday the trial will finally start.

A total of 24 men have been charged in the wake of the murders of the two Scandinavian girlfriends in the night of December 17 last year.

Four men are charged with the murder. Two of them performed the killings, while a third filmed it all.

A fourth man participated in the planning, but traveled the day in advance to the big city of Marrakech, allegedly to find a suitable hiding place.

- They are low educated and brainwashed men who thought they would go to paradise. Only when they were arrested and had time to think, they understood that they have done something terrible, the men's defender Hafida Maksouai said to TV 2.

The 25-year-old street vendor Abdesamad El Joud is considered the leader of the group. He has been questioned about the time before the killings.

- They looked at the possibility of joining IS in Syria, but couldn't afford it. Therefore, they would rather attack a military camp or a mall in Morocco. Eventually, they decided to kill innocent tourists on a hike, Maksouai sums up.

The Scandinavian women were killed on a mountain ridge near the village of Imlil in the south of Morocco. There the three remaining men paid an acquaintance to keep them hidden, they have explained.

The following day, they traveled to Marrakech, about two hours from Imlil, where they would again meet the fourth main participant. However, he was arrested by the police, and the three men therefore sought refuge again.

Only on December 19, two days after the killings, the men were arrested in the back of a bus in the middle of Marrakech. The bus was going to the coastal town of Agadir.

From there, the men would have wanted to head south to West Africa to join the terrorist group Boko Haram, they have explained in interrogation. Since 2015, the group has had strong ties to IS.

- They were convinced that it was right to do in line with their religion, Maksaoui says.

After the arrest, the men have understood the horrors they have committed, the lawyer believes. She says they often cry when they are in front of her.

Maksaoui believes it is about 90 percent likely that the four main defendants will be sentenced to death.

If they don't get a lifetime in prison, she believes.

Life span and death penalty have in practice had the same significance in the last 25 years, since no one has been executed in Morocco since 1993.

However, the killings in December have blown life into the debate on the death penalty.

- They are terrified of being executed. All four are clear that they will never commit crime again if they get a second chance, the defense counsel says.

According to her, trials related to terror are always treated on Thursdays in Morocco. It is therefore expected that the four main defendants will give their testimony this Thursday, and that the other defendants must wait until next week.

A total of 24 men are charged inthe case. Alongside the main perpetrators, a Swiss-Spanish man who has given them arms training and instructions. He denies the allegations.

In addition, 19 men have been charged in various ways for having given support to IS.

In the past, a Swiss man was sentenced to ten years in prison for participation in the terrorist group in connection with the same case.

During the trial, the family of the Danish Louisa Vesterager Jespersen is represented by a Moroccan lawyer.

When the trial was postponed last time, it was because the lawyer asked for compensation from the state of Morocco on behalf of the family.


The lawyer of Maren Ueland's surviving family, Ragnar Falck Paulsen, says to TV 2 that he is still working on getting a Moroccan lawyer into the family.

So far it has been difficult to achieve for practical and financial reasons, he explained to TV 2 gets.

- Now we are in contact with a lawyer who will probably be able to assist the family in court. I'm pretty sure we're going to get it right, Falck Paulsen says.

On May 7, the family from Bryne was visited by Kripos, who informed about the charge and the basis for it.

The family has chosen not to travel to Morocco to attend the trial. They have not taken a position on whether they want to ask for compensation as the Danish family has done.

Both the Norwegian and Moroccan embassies are represented by observers when the court is due at 12.00 local time - 14.00 Norwegian time - Thursday.

During the previous court hearings there has been a huge presence of Moroccan and international press.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Hispanosuizo niega su relación con el asesinato de las turistas nórdicas en Marruecos

Hispanic-Swiss Kevin Zoller Güervos, on trial for complicity in the murder of two Nordic tourists last December in a mountainous area of Morocco, denied this Thursday any link with this crime of terrorist nature, although he admitted that he had been friends with the main perpetrator of the events.

Zoller, a young man of 25 years who has always lived in Geneva and has Spanish nationality for his mother, appeared before the judge of the Court of Appeal of Salé (antiterrorist jurisdiction near Rabat) during the fifth hearing of the trial and, assisted by a translator, repeated all the time that he did not profess any extremist ideology.

He also assured that he did not train the rest of the accused in the handling of weapons.

"I am a consumer of hashish and I like football, is this the profile of a jihadist," he said before the judge and denied that he had downloaded telephone applications of Telegram (commonly used by jihadist networks) for the rest of the defendants.

This version is also underlined by Kevin's mother, the Spanish Gema Güervos, who defended her son's innocence in previous sessions.

At Thursday's hearing, Kevin explained to the judge that he converted to Islam in Geneva in 2011, at the age of 18, and in 2014, he acknowledged that several Swiss extremists he met at the Petit-Saconnex mosque in that city, which he frequented at the time, tried to recruit him to join the jihad on behalf of the terrorist group Islamic State (EI) in Syria and Iraq, something he said he had rejected.

In 2015, Kevin, nicknamed Abu Yahya, settled in Marrakech, in southern Morocco, to learn Arabic and study the Koran.

During his stay in Morocco, he acknowledged that he maintained friendships with some of the 24 defendants in this case, including the main accused Abdessamad Joud.

They attended the baptism of his son, went on an excursion with him and played paintball matches together.

The Spanish-Swiss man told the judge that he decided to break off all relations with these people when he learned of their extremist ideology and when Joud asked him to "find a safe route from Morocco to Nigeria to join Boko Haram (Jihadist group)", because of Zoller's friendships with sub-Saharan citizens.

Zoller is defended by a Moroccan lawyer, Saad Sahli, and by Swiss lawyer Saskia Ditisheim, who informed Efe at the hearing that she had begun the process of enrolling in the French or Spanish bar associations, two countries that have a legal agreement with Morocco, in order to be able to assist her client in the Maghreb country.

Kevin Zoller is one of 20 people on trial in relation to the beheadings of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, of Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, of Norway, in a tent on 17 December when they were hiking in an area of the High Atlas near Marrakech.

The accused face charges such as forming a criminal gang, murder with premeditation, preparation of terrorist acts, use of weapons, collective attempt to join a jihadist group, apology for terrorism or failure to report a crime.


BBM


This bit about the baptism of a muslim child is surprising. I did not know this ritual existed.

 

[ZaZara]

Drame d’Imlil: les secrets du plan sanglant de la cellule Chamharouch

The Rabat Court of Appeal has completed the interrogation of all the accused who are prosecuted in connection with the double murder of Imlil. The revelations were overwhelming. Details of a bloody plan emerged that was aborted by the arrest of all members of the Chamharouch cell.

The fifth hearing in the trial of the murder of the two Scandinavian tourists in the Marrakech region last December took place on Thursday in the annex of the Court of Appeal in charge of terrorism cases in Salé, by questioning all twenty-four accused prosecuted in this case.

According to the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, that looks at this subject in its weekend edition of 22 and 23 June, the revelations of the defendants heard on Thursday could not have been more frightening. Hamid Ait Ahmed, one of the main defendants, confessed to the Court that the gang's (El Joud's) mastermind had kept him informed of a certain man named El Adnani, spokesman for the terrorist organization "Daech". The latter, the accused added coldly, had advised them to take action in Morocco, planning terrorist attacks in case they failed to reach Daech on the ground.

In this regard, the accused further revealed, he was immersed via El Joud, his son-in-law, in Daech's ideology and terrorist aims. In response to a question from the Court about El Joud's request to build an improvised explosive device (Afghan model), the accused Hamid Ait Ahmed, an electrician by profession, said that he had done an experiment that was not successful.

After this exchange between the two men, he said, El Joud revealed another bomb-making project to him namely by using cars. In fact, the newspaper continues, the defendants, who revealed the details of their bloody plan, in some cases tried to sketch out the Court's questions before they were redirrected by the President of the Court and the representative of the prosecution who confronted them with their statements before the investigating judge who had first investigated this case.

The hearing was also marked by the interrogation of Swiss national Kevin Zoller Guervos, who was assisted by his lawyer and a sworn translator. He said that upon his arrival in Morocco, he met the man named Mohamed Oussaleh who introduced him into the network of El Joud and others. Connections were made and meetings were multiplied on topics related to extremism and terrorism.

In this context, a project to attack security checkpoints in order to seize weapons was on their agenda. Regarding the video recording the murder, discovered on his mobile by the forensic police, Swiss national Kevin Zoller Guervos reported that the source was none other than his wife, to whom he married through Mohamed Ousaleh. He also confessed to having transferred the same video and photos of the perpetrators of the crime to another Swiss national living in Temara. At the same hearing, the Court rejected the request of the defence of the prosecution to summon the Minister of State for Human Rights, Mustapha Ramid and the Salafist Sheikh Mohamed Maghraoui. The trial was adjourned to Thursday, June 27.


This fifth hearing took place in the presence of all the twenty-four accused in this case, their defence, sworn translators and the lawyers for the prosecution. Twenty-four defendants are being prosecuted in this case, including a Swiss national of Spanish nationality and two imams, for forming a gang to prepare and commit terrorist acts aimed at seriously undermining State security, premeditated aid to perpetrators of terrorist acts, training of persons to join a terrorist organization and advocacy of terrorism.

The victims, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, a 24-year-old Danish student, and her friend Maren Ueland, a 28-year-old Norwegian, were camping in the town of Imlil during a mountain hike.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Morocco seeks death penalty for three terror suspects | Daily Mail Online

Moroccan prosecutors have asked for the death penalty for three suspected jihadists who killed a pair of Scandinavian hikers last December.

Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland had their throats slit in Morocco's Atlas mountains last year.

Suspected ringleader Abdessamad Ejjoud, 25, and fellow killer Younes Ouaziyad, 27, admitted they had beheaded the girls, while Rachid Afatti, 33, filmed the murders on his phone.

Prosecutors are seeking the maximum sentence for the men, who had sworn allegiance to ISIS, although Morocco has had a freeze on executions since 1993.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

La sentencia por el asesinato de dos turistas nórdicas se conocerá el próximo jueves

The trial of 24 young Moroccans allegedly implicated in the murder and beheading of two Nordic tourists last December in a mountainous area of the Atlas entered its final stage before the verdict will be known next Thursday 18 July.

The judge of the Court of Appeal of Salé (city near Rabat and specialized in terrorism cases) decided this Thursday to postpone until next week the final word for the defendants, as well as the final deliberations.

The crime occurred last December 17 when Danish citizen Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and her Norwegian friend Maren Ueland, 28, were found decapitated inside the tent in which they were camping in the town of Imlil, in hours prior to their climb to Mount Toubkal, the summit of the Atlas and North Africa.

At the sixth and penultimate hearing on Thursday, six lawyers took turns presenting their arguments in defence of the defendants, in addition to the intervention of the civil party's lawyer.

Thursday's session was marked by a letter from the mother of the Danish victim, which was read by the lawyer for the civil party Khalil al Fataoui, in which the woman asks for the death penalty to be handed down and applied against the murderers of her daughter, because " the world will be better without them."

"From the moment I heard the news, my life was shattered. I cry even in my dreams. My daughter Louisa's ambitions were shattered in the most brutal way," the letter states in French and translated into Arabic before the judge.

The prosecutor of the case himself had already requested in the previous session the death penalty for the three main defendants who murdered and beheaded the two tourists, in addition to videotaping with their telephone the crime, which they later shared on social networks.

In Morocco, the death penalty is imposed for crimes that cause great social alarm, but there has been a de facto moratorium on its application since 1993, the date of the last execution.

Five of the court-appointed lawyers in this case asked the judge to apply mitigating circumstances and social reinsertion measures because of the social vulnerability of the defendants, all of them from very poor backgrounds, as in fact almost none of them could afford a lawyer.

Lawyer Hafida Meksaoui, who represents the three material authors of the facts, requested that these persons be subjected to a medical examination because of their social vulnerability.

"These people do not escape from the circle of misery, poverty and ignorance; they do not distinguish the reasonable from the unreasonable; they live in an unhealthy environment that produces unbalanced people," Meskaoui insisted.

The lawyer stressed that the defendants come from the margins of society, so she asked the judge to "in addition to the sanction they deserve, contribute in some way to reforming society."

For his part, the lawyer Saad Sahli, who defends the Hispanic-Swiss Kevin Zoller Güervos, also persecuted in this case, said that his client is innocent, arguing that he has no material involvement in the murder of the two tourists.

Sahli stressed that although his client knew some of those involved in this case, he broke off all relations with them as soon as he learned of their extremist ideology.

His client - said the lawyer - decided to reside in Morocco to learn more about Islam, a religion he had converted to a few years ago in Switzerland, but regretted that instead " he fell into the hands of murderers."

On the other hand, lawyer Abdelatif Ouahbi - who represents the state as a subsidiary civilian responsible - defended that the security apparatuses fulfilled their mission of defending citizens and tourists in the country.

"Thirteen million foreigners enter peace in our country every year," he said, while criticizing the interpretation of alleged police "negligence": "Let's be fair to the state. There has been no non-compliance. The state cannot, for example, control all social networks," he argued.

A large number of Moroccan and international journalists, as well as representatives of the Norwegian embassy, attended Thursday's hearing.


BBM



Helle Jespersen from Denmark that abolished the death penalty in 1950 has a message for the Moroccan court (plus the EU, the European Court of Human Rights and the world.)

Louisa Jespersens mor venter på dom i Marokko-terrorsag: ’Jeg håber, de får dødsstraf’

As a mother, I do not even know how much my daughter has suffered while dying, I know that my daughter has called out for me and that I could not help her. How long might my daughter have lived? And imagine, if anyone had done this to your child, wouldn't you be kind enough to give to these beasts the death penalty that they deserve and for the girls and for my love make sure that they not only get it, [but] [ carry out (?)] the cruel act because the world is better off without theses persons. I request this of you.

Sincerely, LE Vesterager Jespersen

 

[dotr]

Today, in the hard copy of the Toronto Star, 3 full page article.
Accessible at this link.
PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines.

 

[ZaZara]

Today, in the hard copy of the Toronto Star, 3 full page article.
Accessible at this link.
PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines.

Link goes to main page