Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Death sentence for Morocco murder trio

Three Moroccan men have been sentenced to death for murdering two Scandinavian women in the Atlas mountains.

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark was murdered in the Atlas Mountains.
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark was murdered in the Atlas Mountains. Source: Facebook

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were killed in their tent in December near the Moroccan village of Imlil, a popular hiking destination.

The anti-terrorism court in Sale, near Rabat, had heard at earlier sessions that the men had pledged allegiance to Islamic State in a video days before the murder.

Two of them - Abdessamad Ejjoud and Youness Ouziyad - had told the court theyhad decapitated the women, while the third - Rachid Afatti - said he filmed the killing and posted the footage online.

A fourth man who said he had left the group before the murders got a life sentence.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"May God forgive us," the men said.

One added: "There is no God but Allah" when the judge asked them for their final statements before giving his verdict.

Defence lawyer Hafida El Maksaoui said she would appeal against the sentences.

Twenty other people who prosecutors said had links to the killers were sentenced to between five and 30 years for forming a criminal gang to commit terrorist acts, encouraging terrorism, undermining public order and other crimes.

All were Moroccan apart from one Swiss national, Kevin Ziller Guervos, who was also accused of persuading people to join militant groups. He was given a 20-year sentence.

The court ordered the four main convicts to pay almost $300,000 compensation to Ueland's family.

Lawyers for Jespersen's family had asked for the state, not the murderers, to pay, saying the men would not be able to afford it.

But the court turned down that request and made no other order for payments.

    


2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world