On December 17, 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.
Most Moroccans themselves are sickened by this act of violence that they want
the perpetrators to die for their crime. Their wish were granted as 3 of those
responsible for the murders were sentenced to death on July 18, 2019.
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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] |
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Murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren
Ueland
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Location
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Foothills
of Mount
Toubkal, close to the village of Imlil, Morocco
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Date
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December
17, 2018 (bodies discovered)
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Attack type
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Victims
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Motive
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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 decapitated
in the foothills of Mount Toubkal near to the village of Imlil in the Atlas
Mountains of Morocco.
A total of 18
men have been arrested by Moroccan Police in relation to the
murders. The murders were described by the Moroccan general prosecutor as a terrorist
act after a video of some of the suspects swearing allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant while decapitating Louisa Jespersen was released on the Internet.
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Louisa Jespersen (l) and Maren Ueland (r)
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Louisa Vesterager
Jespersen
(December 5, 1994 to
December 17, 2018)
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Background
See also: Islamic terrorism § Morocco, and Islam
in Morocco
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (born 1994)
grew up in Ikast,
Denmark. She attended Vestre School and became a student at the Ikast-Brande Gymnasium in 2013. She had been
traveling to places like Argentina, Peru and Norway. Jespersen applied for
participation in Fjällräven Polar expedition in 2017 and 2018.
Maren Ueland (born 1990) was from Bryne, Norway.
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren
Ueland were students at the University of South-Eastern Norway,
where they studied outdoor recreation and nature guidance to become
tour guides. The pair had arrived in Morocco on 9 December as tourists with the
intention of trekking and "chasing
experiences", according to Jespersen's mother. The two women first arrived
in Marrakesh
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.
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Maren Ueland
(November 23, 1990 to
December 17, 2018)
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Four attackers had shared a video on
social media before the attacks, pledging allegiance to the ISIS terror group
and talked about "destruction caused by the warplanes of the Crusader alliance".
One of the attacker says "Keep fighting the enemies of Allah, wherever you
are, you have no excuse and, be informed that we are your supporters… you have
allies among us."
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'investigation judiciaire (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 example, 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, and a day
after another Moroccan killed two women in the 2017
Turku attack.
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3 of the Killers sentenced
to death for the murders of Maren Ueland and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen
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Murders and investigation
On the morning of 17 December 2018, a
pair of French hikers came across the decapitated bodies of the victims and
their tent near a trail connecting Imlil to Mount Toubkal. A suspect named
Abderrahim Khayali was quickly apprehended following the incident after police
found a forgotten ID in the tent they had left behind. Three additional
suspects, Abdessamad Ejjoud, Rachid Afatti and Younes Ouaziyad, 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. Abdessamad Ejjoud is assumed to be the leader of the group, and
the four men shot a video the week before the murders where they pledged
allegiance to ISIS.
The killers had agreed to carry out a
terrorist act on either security services or foreign tourists, before deciding
to travel to the Imlil region to look for foreigners and where they would
target the two backpackers. In the video of the killings, the attackers can be
heard shouting "enemies of Allah" and "revenge for our brothers
in Hajin".
Moroccan police later made additional
arrests of individuals believed to have connections with the suspects.
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Helle Jespersen with her
daughter Louisa Vesterager Jespersen.
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"The most just thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve, I ask that of you," said Helle Petersen in a letter read by her lawyer in an anti-terrorist court in Sale, near the capital Rabat. "My life was destroyed the moment that two policemen came to my door on December 17th to announce my daughter's death," the mother of 24-year-old Louisa Vesterager Jespersen wrote in the letter, read out in total silence and with the defendants' faces impassive.
Trial
In total, 24 went on trial in Salé, near Rabat in Morocco. Of
those charged, 23 suspects are Moroccans from Marrakesh
and one is a Swiss-Spanish Muslim convert. Three of them are charged with
murder and the other 23 of various terrorist charges.
In May 2019, one of the suspects
admitted to killing one of the women. He had previously been jailed for having
attempted to join the Islamic
State in Syria and was released in 2015.
In July 2019, three of the suspects have
been ordered a death sentence, of which their lawyer said he would appeal.
“It will bring some sort of justice to our daughters. They go around and kill people, now they will feel what is like to be sentenced to death. That is the bigger picture I try to focus on, justice for our girls and our families and to prevent them from killing again.” – Helle Petersen, the mother of Louisa Jespersen, told the news after the killers were sentenced to death.
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Three extremists who #beheaded two #women in the
Atlas mountains, Morocco, have been sentenced to death by firing squad. ☠️☠️☠️🌟🌟
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were both found dead on December 17 last year. They had pitched up in a ‘remote mountainous region’ 6.2 miles away from the village of Imlil, at the foot of Mount Toubkal, when they were killed in their tent. Today ringleader Abdessamed Ejjoud, Younes Ouaziyad, 27, and Rachid Affati, 33, received the maximum penalty for their murders. The group, who pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, previously admitted filming themselves killing the women before posting the footage online. |
Appeal
On 31 October, the death sentence for
three of the convicted was upheld by the antiterrorist court in Salé. In total 24
suspects connected to the murders or being members of the jihadist cell were
sentenced.
The prime suspect, Abdessamad Ejjoud,
was 25 years of age organised the murder expedition with two accomplices,
Younes Ouaziyad (27) and Rachid Afatti (31) who filmed the murders. A fourth
suspect, Abderrahim Khayali had his sentence elevated from life in prison to
the death penalty. Khayali was part of the expedition into the mountain but left
the group before the killings. The court upheld received sentences from 5 to 30
years in prison for 19 accused and elevated one sentence from 15 to 20 years in
prison. Ejjoud used his chance to speak before the sentence to ask for the
death penalty as he believed in neither the laws nor human rights. Ouaziyad and
Afatti recited verses from the Quran.
Like in the first trial, the court
ordered the four prime suspects to pay 190 000 euros to the parents of Maren
Ueland.
The death penalty is still in effect in
Morocco, in practice no executions have taken place since 1993.
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A girl carries pictures of 24-year-old Dane
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (left) and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland during
a candlelight vigil outside the Danish embassy in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday.
Photo: AP
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Funerals
The remains of the victims were flown to
Copenhagen
21 December 2018.
Jespersen's funeral was held in her
native town of Ikast,
Denmark on January 12. The Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen attended the funeral.
Ueland was buried on January 21 in Jæren, Norway.
The Norwegian minister of health Bent Høie
and the Moroccan ambassador Lamia Radi attended the ceremony.
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Aftermath
In Morocco, news of the attack was met
with widespread outrage and condemnation. The incident received extensive
coverage in the international press. 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 Imlil.
Two videos: one depicting the murder and
another where the suspects video themselves swearing allegiance to ISIS were published onto
social media. Moroccan authorities and Norway's National Criminal
Investigation Service agents have said the videos are authentic.
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Moroccans gather in front of Denmark's embassy
in Rabat to honour Maren Ueland from Norway and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen
from Denmark, who were killed in Morocco, in Rabat, Morocco December 22, 2018.
The placards read "Together against terrorism fanaticism extremism"
and "Yes To Peace and Security". REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
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OTHER LINKS:
In
Loving Memory of Maren Ueland and Louisa Vesterager
Jespersen (Found dead on December 17, 2018):
1. The dead cannot cry out for justice.
It is a duty of the living to do so for them. - Lois McMaster Bujold
“It will bring some sort of justice to our daughters.
They go around and kill people, now they will feel what is like to be sentenced
to death. That is the bigger picture I try to focus on, justice for our girls
and our families and to prevent them from killing again.” – Helle Petersen, the
mother of Louisa Jespersen, told the news after the killers were sentenced to death.
UNIT 1012 SUPPORTS THE DEATH SENTENCE FOR THE TRIO WHO
MURDERED THE TWO SCANDINAVIAN WOMEN
ALBUM PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/photos/a.2283898888398731/2283892288399391/?type=3&theater
2. On this date, July 18, 2019, three
ISIS Militants are sentenced to death by firing squad for the murders of two
Scandinavian women hiking in the Atlas Mountains.
VK VIDEO: https://vk.com/wall-184585082_11
.... …. https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2202820316506589
3. "The most just thing would be to
give these beasts the death penalty they deserve, I ask that of you," said
Helle Petersen in a letter read by her lawyer in an anti-terrorist court in Sale,
near the capital Rabat.
Mother of murdered Danish student urges
death sentences in Morocco trial
2019 TREE OF ANGELS
PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/photos/a.1858132690975355/1963874350401188/?type=3&theater
4. Morocco backpacker murders:
Court confirms death penalty for killers
https://www.dw.com/en/morocco-backpacker-murders-court-confirms-death-penalty-for-killers/a-51060026
5. MAREN UELAND
(NOVEMBER 23, 1990 TO DECEMBER 17, 2018)
https://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2019/11/maren-ueland-november-23-1990-to.html
6. LOUISA VESTERAGER JESEPERSEN
(DECEMBER 5, 1994 TO DECEMBER 17, 2018)
6b. Memory Video –
6c. The last thing she said Louisa Vesterager
Jespersen 2018
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