@jimmy_jonesx3 comments on murders of louisa
In December, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, died in their tents near the Moroccan village of Imlil, a popular hiking destination.
The anti-terrorism court in Sal, near Rabat, heard in a previous session that the men had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a video in the days before the murders.
Two of them – Abdessamad Ejjoud and Youness Ouziyad – told the court they beheaded the women, while a third – Rashid al-Afati – said he filmed the killing and posted the video online.
A fourth man, who said he left the group before the killings, was given a life sentence.
On Thursday, the men said, “May Allah forgive us,” one of them added, “There is no god, there is only Allah,” as the judge asked them to make a final statement before handing down their sentence.
Her lawyer, Hafida El Maksaoui, said she would appeal the verdict.
Twenty other people, who prosecutors said were linked to the killer, were sentenced to between five and 30 years in prison for forming a criminal association with the purpose of committing terrorist acts, promoting terrorism, disrupting public order and committing other sentenced crimes.
All were Moroccans except for one Swiss, Kevin Ziller Guervos, who was also accused of convincing people to join militant groups and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The court ordered the four main criminals to pay Dh2 million ($209,000) in compensation to Ueland’s family.
Lawyers for Jesperson’s family called for the state, not murder, because these people couldn’t afford it. But the court rejected the request and no further payment orders were issued.
