| Murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland | |
|---|---|
  Imlil Imlil (Morocco) | |
| Location | Foothills ofMount Toubkal, close to the village ofImlil,Morocco[1] |
| Date | December 17, 2018 (bodies discovered) |
Attack type | Decapitation,stabbing[2] |
| Victims | Louisa Vesterager Jespersen Maren Ueland |
| Perpetrators |  Islamic State |
| Assailants | Abdessamad Ejjoud Younes Ouaziyad Rachid Afatti |
| 24 | |
| Motive | Islamic extremism Revenge for theBattle of Hajin[3] |
| Verdict | 3sentenced to death, 20 sentenced to 5 to 30 years in prison |
| Convictions | Murder |
On 17 December 2018, the bodies ofLouisa Vesterager Jespersen, a 24-year-old Danish woman, andMaren Ueland, a 28-year-old Norwegian woman, were found decapitated in the foothills ofMount Toubkal near to the village ofImlil in theAtlas Mountains ofMorocco.[4][2]
A total of 18 men have been arrested byMoroccan Police in relation to the murders. The murders were described by the Moroccan general prosecutor as aterrorist act, after a video released on the Internet showed several of the suspects swearing allegiance to theIslamic State while decapitating Jespersen.[5][6] Initially, detectives believed the crimes were sexually motivated, with witnesses and CCTV indicating the suspects followed the women.[7] They were also camped 600 meters from the women.
French authorities demanded extradition of the three assailants. Moroccan authorities denied this due to the fact that the crime took place in Morocco; since then the three assailants have been sentenced to death by theSupreme Court of Morocco. These are the first death sentences handed out by Morocco since 1993. The executions are due to be completed within 30 years.[citation needed]
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (born 1994) grew up inIkast, Denmark. She attended Vestre School in Grindsted, and became a student at theIkast-Brande Gymnasium [da] in 2013. She had been traveling to various countries, such as Argentina, Peru, and Norway. Jespersen applied for participation in theFjällräven Polar expedition in 2017 and 2018.
Maren Ueland (born 1990) was fromBryne, Norway and was a trained social and healthcare assistant.
Jespersen and Ueland were students at theUniversity of South-Eastern Norway, where they studiedoutdoor recreation and nature guidance to become tour guides.[8] The pair had arrived in Morocco on 9 December as tourists, with the intention oftrekking and "chasing experiences", according to Jespersen's mother.[6] The two women first arrived inMarrakesh, before traveling toImlil in theAtlas Mountains. The village of Imlil is popular with travellers as the main base for summitingToubkal, which is the highest peak inNorth Africa.[4]
Four attackers had shared a video on social media before the attacks, pledging allegiance to the ISIS terror group, and discussed "destruction caused by the warplanes of theCrusader alliance". One of the attackers stated, "Keep fighting the enemies ofAllah, wherever you are, you have no excuse and, be informed that we are your supporters… you have allies among us".[9]
According toSwedish Defense University researcherMagnus Ranstorp, terrorists attacking tourists is not a new phenomenon, and it aims to destabilize the country where such attacks take place.[6]
While Morocco is generally seen as a secure destination for tourists, the last terrorist attack happened in 2011, where17 people were killed by a bombing at a restaurant in Marrakesh. One of them was 18-year-old Salome Girard, a friend of Maren Ueland.[10] Over 1,600 people have traveled from Morocco to join the Islamic State in theSyrian civil war. Moroccan authorities initially ignored the people who joined ISIS but later realized they could return to commit terrorist offenses in Morocco. As a result, theBureau central d'investigation judiciaire [fr] (BCIJ) was formed.[11]
According to a researcher at theDanish Institute for International Studies, "Moroccan authorities appear to have a good grip on thejihadist situation, and cooperate with European and US authorities". Moroccans are overrepresented in "diaspora terrorism", which is terrorism which takes place outside the borders of Morocco; for example, two Moroccans were behind the2017 London Bridge attack, a Moroccan killed people by driving his van into pedestrians inLa Rambla in the2017 Barcelona terrorist attacks, and the following day, another Moroccan killed two women and wounded 8 other victims in the2017 Turku attack.[11]
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.[12] A suspect named Abderrahim Khayali was quickly apprehended following the incident, after police found an ID in the victims' tent, that had been left behind by the suspect.[13] 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 ofMarrakesh.[14] The three suspects were caught in possession of bladed weapons. Abdessamad Ejjoud was the leader of the group, and the four men had shot a video the week before the murders, where they pledged allegiance to ISIS.[15]
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.[16] In the video of the killings, the attackers can be heard shouting "enemies of Allah", and "revenge for our brothers inHajin".[3]
Moroccan police later made additional arrests of individuals believed to have connections with the suspects.[5]
In total, 24 went on trial inSalé, nearRabat in Morocco. Of those charged, 23 suspects are Moroccans fromMarrakesh, and one is a Swiss-Spanish Muslim convert. Three of them were charged with murder, and the other 23 of various terrorist charges.[8]
In May 2019, Ejjoud admitted to killing one of the women. He had previously been jailed for having attempted tojoin the Islamic State in Syria, and was released in 2015.[8] He is the one who killed and beheaded Jespersen in the video.[17] Ejjoud also confessed to planning the murders with the other two suspects.[18]
In July 2019, three of the suspects were given adeath sentence, which their lawyer said he would appeal.[19]
On 31 October 2019, the death sentence for three of the convicted was upheld by the anti-terrorist court inSalé. In total, 24 suspects connected to the murders, or who were members of the jihadist cell, were sentenced.[20]
The prime suspect, Abdessamad Ejjoud, was 25 years of age and organized the murder expedition with two accomplices, Younes Ouaziyad (27) and Rachid Afatti (33) who filmed the murders. A fourth suspect, Abderrahim Khayali, had his sentence elevated fromlife imprisonment 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 nineteen of the 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 theQuran.[20][21]
Like in the first trial, the court ordered the four prime suspects to pay 190,000 euros to the parents of Maren Ueland.[20]
The death penalty is still in effect in Morocco. In practice, no executions have taken place since 1993.[20][21]
As of 2024, the suspects are still awaiting execution.[22] On 28 February 2023, Abderrahim Khayali committedsuicide by hanging with a piece of cloth taken from his clothes anchored to a window; he was awaiting execution at the local prison inOujda.[23][24][25]
The remains of the victims were flown toCopenhagen, Denmark on 21 December 2018.[26]
Jespersen's funeral was held in her native town ofIkast, Denmark on 12 January.[27] ThePrime Minister of Denmark,Lars Løkke Rasmussen, attended the funeral.[28]
Ueland was buried on 21 January inJæren, Norway. The Norwegian Minister of Health,Bent Høie, and theMoroccan Ambassador, Lamia Radi, attended the ceremony.[29]
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 Ueland's native town ofBryne in support of her family and loved ones.[26]
Vigils for the victims were held inRabat, Morocco at the embassies of Norway and Denmark, along with vigils inMarrakesh and Imlil.[30]
Two videos, one depicting the murder, and another where the suspects filmed themselves swearing allegiance toISIS, were published onto social media.[31] Moroccan authorities and Norway'sNational Criminal Investigation Service agents have said the videos are authentic.[5]
