They sentenced to death the three jihadists who beheaded Scandinavian tourists in Morocco

The three young Moroccans who murdered and decapitated two Scandinavian tourists on December 17 on a mountain in the Atlas they were sentenced to death by the Court of Appeal of Salé.

This court, specialized in the crimes of terrorism, ordered the execution of Abdessamad el Joud (25-year-old street vendor), Youness Ouziad (carpenter, 27), and Rachid Afati (Carpenter, 33 years old). Before perpetuating the crime, all had sworn allegiance to jihadism.

During the trial, the group of terrorists confessed to killing Danish citizens Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and her Norwegian friend Maren Ueland, age 28, doing mountaineering on Mount Tubkal, in the city of Imlil. The attackers decapitated them under their tent and recorded the brutal attack and then broadcast it on social networks.

The 21 others tried for complicity in the two crimes were sentenced to life imprisonment ranging from five years to life imprisonment. Among them is the young Spaniard Kevin Zoller Güervos, who faces 20 years in prison. In his statement, he tried to detach himself from the cruelty of the murderers. "I had the misfortune of coinciding with the wrong people on my way, I am not an extremist and I have never been," he told the judge.

The main charges against all those convicted were "criminal gang training to prepare for and commit terrorist acts", "premeditated attempt against the lives of people", "savage acts", "possession and punishment". "use of weapons", attempt to manufacture explosives ", all within the framework of a" collective project of the fight against public order ".

Judge Abdelatif Amrani followed petitions from the prosecutor's office and sentenced to life imprisonment Abderrahman Khayali, another accomplice of the perpetrators, who was aware of the facts but was not present at the time of the trial. 39; attack.

The three jihadists sentenced to death must pay extra 2 million dirhams (200 000 euros) in the concept of compensation of relatives of the victims. However, it is felt that this does not happen because they are low-income people and could not even afford a lawyer.

In their last word, the principal defendants repented of their actions and said, "May God forgive us." The other 20 men sitting on the bench tried to dissociate themselves from them, but they did not deny their extremist ideology.

Despite the death sentence, it is unlikely that the three jihadists will actually be executed, as there is a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in Morocco. The last prisoner executed was in 1993.