On 17 December 2018, the bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, a
24-year-old Danish woman, and Maren Ueland, a 28-year-old Norwegian
woman, were found with knife wounds to their necks on Toubkal mountain
near to the village of Imlil in the Atlas
Mountains of Morocco.
We, the comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will not forget these two women
and we hope those responsible will get the death penalty. Most Moroccans
themselves are sickened by this act of violence that they want the perpetrators
to die for their crime.
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The bodies of Maren
Ueland, left, and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen were discovered near the base of
Mount Toubkal. One of the women was decapitated [Monday December 17, 2018]
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/student-backpacker-found-beheaded-in-moroccan-mountains-c6pncw8d5] |
On 17 December 2018, the bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, a
24-year-old Danish woman, and Maren Ueland, a 28-year-old Norwegian
woman, were found with knife wounds to their necks on Toubkal mountain
near to the village of Imlil in the Atlas
Mountains of Morocco.
A total of 13 men have been arrested by Moroccan Police in relation to the
murders. The murders have been described as a terrorist
crime by the Moroccan general prosecutor after a video of some of the suspects
swearing allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant was released on the Internet.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Louisa_Vesterager_Jespersen_and_Maren_Ueland
........ https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/1855452107910080
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Murders
of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland
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Date
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December
17, 2018 (bodies discovered)
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Location
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Attack type
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Melee
attack
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Victims
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Cause of deaths
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Knife
wounds; beheading[2]
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Motive
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Background
See also: Islamic terrorism § Africa, and Islam
in Morocco
Louisa
Vesterager Jespersen (born 1994) and Maren Ueland (born 1990) were students at
the University of South-Eastern Norway,
where they studied outdoor recreation and nature guidance. The pair
had travelled to Morocco in December as tourists with the intention of trekking and "chasing
experiences", according to Jespersen's mother. The two women first arrived
in Marrakech
before travelling to Imlil in the Atlas Mountains. The village of Imlil is
popular with travellers as the main base for summiting Toubkal, which is the
highest peak in North Africa.
According to Swedish Defence University researcher Magnus
Ranstorp, terrorists attacking tourists is not a new phenomenon and it aims
to destabilise the country where such attacks take place.
While Morocco
is generally seen as a secure destination for tourists as the last terrorist
attack happened in 2011 where 17 people were killed by bomb at a
restaurant in Marrakesh, over 1600 people have travelled from Morocco to
join the Islamic State in the Syrian
Civil War. Moroccan authorities initially ignored the people who joined
ISIS but later on realised they could return to commit terrorist offences in
Morocco. As a result, the Bureau Central d'Investigations Judiciaires
(BCIJ) was formed.
According to
a researcher at the Danish Institute for
International Studies, Moroccan authorities appear to have a good grip on
the jihadist situation and cooperates with European and US authorities.
Moroccans are overrepresented in "diaspora terrorism", that is
terrorism which takes place outside the borders of Morocco. For eample, two
Moroccans were behind the 2017 London Bridge attack and a Moroccan
killed people by driving his van into pedestrians in La Rambla in the 2017 Barcelona terrorist attacks.
Murders
and investigation
A suspect was
quickly apprehended following the incident. Three additional suspects were
later apprehended by the police while riding a bus during the morning rush hour
in the nearby city of Marrakesh. The three suspects were caught in possession of
bladed weapons.
Moroccan
police later made additional arrests of individuals believed to have
connections with the suspects.
The remains
of the victims were flown to Copenhagen 21 December 2018.
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Louisa Jespersen (l) and Maren Ueland (r)
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Reactions
In Morocco
news of the attack was met with widespread outrage and condemnation. The
incident received extensive coverage in the international press in part due to
the rarity of such attacks in Morocco and the brutality of the murders.
Reactions in
the native countries of the victims were of shock and outrage. A public
torchlit vigil was held in Ms Ueland's native town of Bryne in support of
her family and loved ones.
Vigils for
the victims were held in Rabat at the embassies of Norway and Denmark, along with vigils
in Marrakesh
and Irmil.
Morocco vigils for murdered Scandinavian tourists
Hundreds of
Moroccans have attended a vigil in the capital Rabat for two Scandinavian
tourists found murdered in the Atlas mountains on Monday.
Holding signs
saying "sorry", they gathered to remember Maren Ueland, 28, and
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, at the embassies of Norway and Denmark.
On Friday
Norwegian police said a video appearing to show one of the tourists being
beheaded was likely to be real.
Four suspects
aged between 25 and 33 have been arrested.
They pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State group in a video made last week, police said.
In the video, they said the murders were revenge for events in Syria.
Nine more
arrests were made on Thursday and Friday for suspected links to the
perpetrators, Moroccan officials said.
In Rabat a
minute's silence was held with Danish and Norwegian diplomats present.
Hundreds more
people attended a vigil in the southern village of Imlil, near where the
women's bodies were found, and flowers were also laid in the city of Marrakesh.
Who were the victims?
Who were the victims?
Ms Jespersen,
who was 24 and from Denmark, and 28-year-old Norwegian Ms Ueland had been
studying outdoor activities at the University of Southeastern Norway.
They had
arrived on a month-long holiday in Morocco on 9 December and had travelled to
the foothills of Mount Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak, 10km (6 miles)
from Imlil.
Their bodies
were found in their tent.
Both women
had taken full precautions ahead of their trip, Maren Ueland's mother said.
 |
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Maren Ueland,
left, and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen were found dead in a popular tourist area
[PHOTO SOURCE:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46662748]
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Calls for Death Penalty After Video of Beheaded
Scandinavian Girl Shocks Morocco
16:08 22.12.2018(updated 16:09 22.12.2018)
Moroccan police have already
arrested 13 suspects in the killing of two Scandinavian backpackers, whose
bodies were found in the Atlas Mountains with knife wounds to the neck.
A Moroccan has mounted a Change.org petition, calling on the Ministry of Justice to
sentence the murderers of 28-year-old Maren Ueland from Norway and 24-year-old
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen from Denmark to death.
<<“The death penalty is undoubtedly the right solution to this horrible crime, as [a] Moroccan, I request the application of Articles 393, 399 of the Moroccan Penal Code”, the petition reads.>>
Article 393 stipulates that
“murder committed with premeditation or ambush is qualified assassination with
the death penalty”, while Article 399 implies that any crime involving torture
or acts of barbarism is punishable by death.
Although the North African
country has not abolished the death penalty, no executions have taken place
since 1993.
The petition has been signed over
370 times as of 22 December, but many are calling for the execution of the
suspects on social media:
<<
Karim Alaoui @KarimAlaoui410
Replying to @TSAReillyThank you Mr Ambassador. This heinous barbaric act does not represent Morocco or Moroccans. We are warm and loving people. These terrorists are not even humans and I hope they will be sentenced to death penalty. We are very sorry for the families and countries of the victims.
5
2:31 AM - Dec 21, 2018
Twitter Ads info and privacySee Karim Alaoui's other Tweets>>
<<
Draden @DradenHaven
Replying to @PamelaGellerThis has nothing to do with Islam. Calling those bastards devout Muslims is unacceptable. People in Morocco are shocked and demand death penalty. This is the reality.>>
<<
ᴍ•ɢ 🇲🇦 ᴍᴏʜᴀᴍᴍᴇᴅ ɢᴀʀᴅᴀɴɪ @Mr_GardaniDeath penalty for these crimes is the only answer absolutely heartbreaking to read what has happened ,my heart goes out to their family at this difficult time.>>
Ueland and
Jespersen were killed near a path up to peak Toubkal, a popular hiking
destination in Morocco. One of the victims was beheaded, while another
sustained serious neck wounds. The case is being investigated as a terrorist
act.
A video of
the decapitation of one of the girls emerged online, with a knife-wielding
perpetrator shouting “It’s Allah’s will” and “This is revenge for our brothers
in Hajin in Syria. These are your heads, enemy of God", referring to the
Daesh stronghold in the province of Deir ez-Zor captured by US-backed forces
earlier this week. Danish intelligence services have authenticated the
extremely graphic footage.
On Friday,
Moroccan police arrested nine more people in various cities across the country
shortly after four suspects were detained in the city of Marrakesh.
The country’s
Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations said police had discovered
electronic devices, unauthorised hunting rifles, knives and materials that
could be used for bomb-making.
According to
the country’s authorities, the four suspects first arrested over the murder had
pledged allegiance to Daesh* in a video now circulating on social media. While
the authenticity of the video is yet to be confirmed, no group has claimed
responsibility for the murder.
*Daesh, also
known as IS/ISIS/Islamic State, is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia
and many other countries.
OTHER LINKS:
1a. https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/1852542641534360
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6517559/ISIS-fanatics-social-media-share-video-Scandinavian-tourists-beheading.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6504783/Bodies-2-Scandinavian-women-Morocco.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6517559/ISIS-fanatics-social-media-share-video-Scandinavian-tourists-beheading.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6504783/Bodies-2-Scandinavian-women-Morocco.html
1b. The chilling footage shows a woman screaming while a man cuts her
neck with what appears to be a kitchen knife.
During the video, the perpetrators are heard linking the atrocity to the
Western bombings in Syria, crying: “This is revenge for our brothers in Hajine
in Syria, here are the enemy heads of your Gods.”
1c. Islamic Terrorists
Take Two European Women Tourists Hiking In Morocco And Brutally Saw Their Heads
Off With A Knife While She Screams For Her Mother Because Of “Sexual
Frustration” By Andrew Bieszad on December 20, 2018
2a. EYE FOR AN EYE
Morocco beheading – ISIS butchers
could face death penalty as outraged public demands fanatics are executed
2b. Moroccans Petition
Government to Give Imlil Suspects Death Penalty
The murders of two Scandinavian
tourists not only caused shockwaves but also led some Moroccans to urge the
government to give the death penalty to the suspects.
3. Morocco vigils for
murdered Scandinavian tourists
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