Indian Mujahideen Terrorist: Ariz Khan sentenced to death

Ariz Khan was awarded the death penalty for the murder of decorated Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma.

If the death penalty was not imposed then "wrong really has finally totally triumphed over right and all civilised society, all we hold dear, is the loser." - John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/hwwv7bcchftj/1092/if-the-death-penalty-was-not-imposed-then-wrong-really-has]

             The Batla House Encounter was an armed Delhi Police operation to arrest terrorists of the Indian terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, hiding in a flat in the Batla House area of Jamia Nagar, Okhla, on 19 September 2008. The operation resulted in the deaths of two terrorists and one police officer, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, with the remaining terrorists arrested. On 15 March 2021, one of the arrested Ariz Khan alias Junaid, was sentenced to death for the murder of Inspector Sharma.

             As terrorists and mass murderers had changed me from a death penalty opponent to supporter, Ariz Khan should go to the gallows and he should not be allowed to keep his life at all. Hopefully, he will meet the Bali Bomber, Amrozi one day.

          As the late Professor Steven Plaut was quoted in his article on 22 July 2004, Judaism's Pro-Death Penalty Tradition:

 

“Actually, the death penalty should be implemented against terrorists even if it doesn’t deter terrorism. It should be implemented because it represents a great moral statement. It is the moral and ethical thing to do. Executing terrorists makes a statement that they are scum with no claim a right to life. Capital punishment represents a moral and just vengeance. It represents a declaration of good and evil.”

 

Delhi court awards death penalty to Ariz Khan in Batla House encounter

Date :16-Mar-2021

By Usha Rani Das :

NEW DELHI,

A DELHI court on Monday awarded death penalty to Ariz Khan for the murder of decorated Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma in connection with the sensational 2008 Batla House encounter case, saying the offence fell under the “rarest of the rare category” warranting the maximum sentence. Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav said Ariz be hanged by neck till death. Inspector Sharma of the police’s special cell was killed during the Batla House encounter between the police and alleged terrorists in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi following serial bomb blasts in the national capital in which 39 people died and 159 were injured.

The court also imposed a total fine of Rs 11 lakh on Ariz in the case. It said Rs 10 lakh should be immediately released to the family members of Sharma. “I feel the fine of Rs 10 lakh is insufficient. Hence, I am referring the matter to Delhi Legal Services Authority for award of additional compensation,” the judge further said. Additional Public Prosecutor A T Ansari, appearing for the police, sought death penalty for Ariz, allegedly associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, saying it was not just any killing but a murder of a law enforcement officer who was a defender of justice. Ansari said the case attracts exemplary punishment, which is capital punishment.

He further said a police officer was killed while discharging his public duty. “Ariz along with others was carrying deadly weapons which clearly suggests that they were ready to kill anybody in any eventuality. They were the first to start fire without any provocation,” the public prosecutor said. He added that widespread concerns were raised after the incident regarding the safety of police officers and it instilled fear in the minds of the common people. Advocate M S Khan, appearing for Ariz, opposed the death penalty and said the incident was not premeditated.

The court had said on March 8 that it was “duly proved that Ariz Khan and his associates caused murder of police official and fired gunshot on the police official”. A trial court had sentenced Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad Ahmed in July 2013 to life imprisonment in connection with the case. His appeal against the verdict has been pending in the high court. Ariz Khan had fled from the spot and was declared proclaimed offender. He was arrested on February 14, 2018, and faced the trial.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.thehitavada.com/Encyc/2021/3/16/Delhi-court-awards-death-penalty-to-Ariz-Khan-in-Batla-House-encounter.html

https://vk.com/wall-184585082_205

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3350621811720081/permalink/3757598297689095/

If an offender has committed murder, he must die. In this case, no possible substitute can satisfy justice. For there is no parallel between death and even the most miserable life, so that there is no equality of crime and retribution unless the perpetrator is judicially put to death. – Immanuel Kant

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2015/02/immanuel-kants-pro-death-penalty-quote.html]

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2017/02/immanuel-kant-on-punishing-criminals.html

Ariz Khan Moves Delhi HC Challenging Death Penalty for Killing Cop in Batla House Encounter

Ariz Khan was awarded the death penalty for the murder of decorated Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma.

Ariz Khan has filed an appeal against the trial court verdict which said the offence fell under the "rarest of the rare category" warranting the maximum sentence and Ariz be "hanged by neck" till death.

PTI

Last Updated: July 24, 2021, 17:58 IST

Ariz Khan, who was awarded the death penalty for the murder of decorated Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma in connection with the sensational 2008 Batla House encounter case, has moved the Delhi High Court challenging his conviction and sentence. Khan has filed an appeal against the trial court verdict which said the offence fell under the "rarest of the rare category" warranting the maximum sentence and Ariz be "hanged by neck" till death.

Inspector Sharma of the Delhi Police's special cell was killed during the 2008 Batla House encounter between the police and the terrorists in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi following serial bomb blasts in the national capital in which 39 people died and 159 were injured. The appeal has been filed by Ariz through advocates M S Khan and Quasar Khan.

The trial court had on March 8 convicted Ariz saying that it was duly proved that he and his associates murdered the police official and fired gunshots at him. The trial court had, on March 15, sentenced Ariz to capital punishment and also imposed a fine of Rs 11 lakh on him, making it clear that Rs 10 lakh should be immediately released to the family members of Sharma.

It had termed the act of Ariz of firing on police party without any provocation as abhorrent and brutal and said this itself showed that he was not only a threat to the society but was also an enemy of the State. The trial court, which had said that the convict on account of his despicable act has forfeited his right to live, held that the offence proved against Ariz was not an ordinary act but a crime against the State and while committing the offence, he acted like a "dreaded and well-trained terrorist" who does not deserve any leniency.

A trial court had sentenced Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad Ahmed in July 2013 to life imprisonment in connection with the case. His appeal against the verdict has been pending in the high court. Ariz Khan had fled from the spot and was declared a proclaimed offender. He was arrested on February 14, 2018 and faced trial.

The court had said it has been proved on record that Ariz after the shootout managed to escape and run away from the spot and eluded investigating agencies for almost 10 years despite coercive process against him. "Involvement of convict in various blast cases not only in Delhi but also in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and UP, in which hundreds of innocent people were killed and injured, further demonstrates that the convict continues to be a threat to the society and the nation," it had added.

The court had said deadly weapons like AK-47 and two pistols were retrieved from the flat where the shootout took place and considering the nature of devastation that these weapons can cause, it would be safe to conclude that these weapons were kept to indulge in terrorist and anti-social activities. "Deleterious impact of crime on social order and human psyche added to the list of aggravating circumstances. Unbearable miseries inflicted by the convict do constitute aggravating circumstance. Nature of offence and manner of committing the crime aroused extreme indignation to the society in this case," it had said.

He was further sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence of attempt to murder. The court had also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for voluntarily obstructing police from discharging their duty, 10 years rigorous imprisonment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to police officials, rigorous imprisonment for two years for assault of public servant and three years imprisonment for the offence under section 27 (using arms) of Arms Act.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.news18.com/news/india/ariz-khan-moves-delhi-hc-challenging-death-penalty-for-killing-cop-in-batla-house-encounter-4002932.html

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=150140647201933&id=101692122046786

  

This is a photograph of Indian police officer, Mohan Chand Sharma

OTHER LINKS:

http://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-four-rapists-of-nirbhaya-executed.html

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2021/09/police-officer-mohan-chand-sharma-end.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batla_House_encounter_case

ALGERIA SENTENCES A JIHADIST TO DEATH FOR THE MURDER OF A FRENCH HIKER (FEBRUARY 18, 2021)

On this date, February 18, 2021, An Algerian court sentenced Abdel-Malek Hamzawy to death, he is the main defendant in the murder of French mountain guide Herve Gourdel who was beheaded by extremists in Algeria in 2014.

            I welcomed the death sentence and I hope that the killer of 19-year-old Chaima Sadou, an Algerian girl who was raped and murdered, will get the death penalty too.

  

A man makes the victory sign behind a picture of Herve Gourdel, the hiker beheaded by Algerian militants linked to the Islamic State group in Marseille, southern France [BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP via Getty Images]

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210220-algeria-issues-death-sentence-to-suspect-for-french-tourist-beheading/]

Hervé Gourdel: Man sentenced over French tourist's killing

An Algerian court has sentenced a man to death over the kidnap and murder of a French mountaineer in 2014.

Hervé Gourdel, 55, was abducted while exploring Djurdjura National Park in a case that sparked outrage.

A graphic beheading video later emerged of his death with the Jund al-Khilafa group, affiliated to the Islamic State, claiming responsibility.

One suspect, Abdelmalek Hamzaoui, appeared in court on Thursday with others being tried in absentia.

Hamzaoui denied taking part in the killing, telling the court he had been accused only to "close the case and please the French".

Several of Mr Gourdel's climbing companions, who themselves spent time in captivity, identified Hamzaoui as being among their kidnappers.

Despite his death sentence, Algeria has had a moratorium on executions in place since 1993.

Mr Gourdel, an experienced mountaineer, was visiting the country on a climbing holiday when he was abducted in September 2014.

His captors later posted a video of his beheading online after France refused to comply with their demand to halt its air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

The French president at the time, François Hollande, condemned the killing as a "cruel and

owardly" act.

His body was not found until January 2015, after Algeria mobilised thousands of troops to aid in its recovery.

Earlier in February, Mr Gourdel's partner, Françoise Grandclaude, welcomed the news that the trial was "finally taking place" and said she hoped it could offer "hope for the families and loved ones of victims affected by terrorism".

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56120459 .... …. https://vk.com/wall-184585082_121

  

The 55-year-old's body was only recovered after months of searching

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56120459]

Algeria issues death sentence to suspect for French tourist beheading

February 20, 2021 at 11:37 am

An Algerian court has sentenced to death Abdel-Malek Hamzawy, the main defendant in the murder of French mountain guide Herve Gourdel who was beheaded by extremists in Algeria in 2014.

The trial was attended by the victim's widow and members of his family.

As per the indictment, 14 people are being prosecuted in this case; eight of them are suspected of participating in the kidnapping and beheading of the victim, while six are suspected of "not reporting the crime".

The defendant Hamzawy arrived in an ambulance and witnessed the trial in a wheelchair, accompanied by a medical team and members of the Gendarmerie's Special Forces to supervise him.

It is reported that Gourdel was kidnapped in the Jarjara reserve on 21 September, 2014, a day after his arrival into the country. A videotape was published three days later showing his beheading in an incident that shocked France and Algeria.

The Jund Al-Khilafah group had threatened to execute Gourdel after abducting him if France did not stop its airstrikes against Daesh.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210220-algeria-issues-death-sentence-to-suspect-for-french-tourist-beheading/

Algeria sentences jihadist to death for French hiker’s murder

Issued on: 18/02/2021 - 21:21Modified: 18/02/2021 - 21:27

People gather in front of the Algerian Dar Al-Baida tribunal in the capital Algiers, where the Herve Gourdel murder trial was held. © Ryad Kramdi, AFP

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210218-algerian-court-sentences-jihadist-in-french-hiker-s-murder-case-to-death]

An Algerian court on Thursday sentenced to death a jihadist for the kidnapping and beheading of French mountaineer Herve Gourdel six years ago after a high profile one-day trial.

The 2014 killing in Algeria of Gourdel was claimed by a jihadist faction affiliated to the Islamic State group.

Gourdel, 55, was abducted while exploring the rugged massif in the North African nation's Djurdjura National Park, a draw for hikers, but also long a sanctuary for jihadists.

Three days after he disappeared, gunmen from militant group Jund al-Khilafa -- Arabic for Soldiers of the Caliphate -- published a gruesome video of his murder.

The trial opened on Thursday with 14 defendants, eight of whom were accused of being jihadists and were charged with Gourdel's kidnapping and murder.

However, only one of the eight, Abdelmalek Hamzaoui, is in custody. The other seven were tried and sentenced to death in absentia.

On Thursday, Hamzaoui was brought to court by ambulance in a wheelchair accompanied by a medical team and watched over by police special forces.

At the request of defence lawyers, the trial opening had been delayed for two weeks due to his ill health.

Questioned by the judge, Hamzaoui had denied having taken part in the abduction and killing of Gourdel, telling the court he was accused only to "close the case and please the French".

Hamzaoui was found guilty and sentenced to death, though there has been a moratorium on executions in Algeria since 1993.

'Still in shock'

Members of Gourdel's family, including his partner Francoise Grandclaude, were in the public gallery.

"I find it very difficult to talk about him (Gourdel), we are still in shock," Grandclaude said. "But I remember that there are a lot of inconsistencies in the words of the main accused."

Six others also on trial, accused of failing to inform authorities promptly of Gourdel's abduction, were all acquitted, according to an AFP journalist at the court.

Five were Gourdel's climbing companions and spent 14 hours in captivity along with him before being released.

Four of them formally identified Hamzaoui in court as being one of the kidnappers.

"I remember Herve's last look as they were forcibly taking him away," testified Hamza Boukamoum, one of his climbing guides.

"We tried to stop them, but they pushed us back saying: 'You don't care, he's not a Muslim'."

Their lawyers said they also were victims of the kidnapping, while a sixth man, whose car was stolen to transport Gourdel, was also cleared of charges.

Gourdel's murder sparked outrage in both France and Algeria, where it triggered memories of the 1992-2002 civil war between Islamists and the army that left some 200,000 dead.

The murder came in the wake of the Islamic State group's dramatic takeover of northern Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014.

Adventure enthusiast Gourdel had travelled to Algeria at the invitation of his climbing companions to try out a new climb.

His kidnappers demanded an end to air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria by a US-led coalition that included France.

Paris had rejected their demand.

Gourdel's body was not recovered until January the following year after an operation involving some 3,000 Algerian troops.

His remains were found in a booby-trapped grave.

In February, his partner Grandclaude had welcomed that the trial was "finally taking place".

Saying it was "very personal", she said the process could offer "hope for the families and loved ones of victims affected by terrorism".

(AFP)   

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210218-algerian-court-sentences-jihadist-in-french-hiker-s-murder-case-to-death

  

Francoise Grandclaude speaks outside court on Thursday at the trial of the men accused of murdering her partner

OTHER LINKS:

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2020/10/justice-for-19-year-old-chaima-sadou.html

https://news.yahoo.com/trial-opens-algeria-jihadist-beheading-115823990.html

SEVEN TERRORISTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE 2016 HOLEY ARTISAN BAKERY ATTACK IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH (NOVEMBER 27, 2019)

            On this date, November 27, 2019, seven terrorists were sentenced to death by hanging in Dhaka, Bangladesh. They were involved in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack on July 1, 2016. 

  

The seven condemned to death are: Md Aslam Hossain alias Rashed alias Ryash, Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Abdus Sabur Khan alias Sohel Mahfuz, Hadisur Rahman Sagor, Rakibul Islam Regan, Shariful Islam Khaled, and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/2019/11/28/7-to-hang-for-holey-artisan-terror-attack]

Islamists are sentenced to death for 2016 Bangladesh cafe attack where 22 people including a US student were killed while those who could recite the Koran were spared

- The seven jihadists were sentenced to death by hanging at the tribunal in Dhaka

- The 2016 attack on a cafe popular with westerners killed 22 and 18 foreigners

- Terrorists stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery with machetes and assault rifles

- American student, nine Italians and seven Japanese citizens were slaughtered

By Ross Ibbetson For Mailonline and Afp

Published: 19:59 AEDT, 27 November 2019 | Updated: 23:00 AEDT, 27 November 2019

Seven Islamists have been sentenced to death for the 2016 Bangladesh cafe attack in which 22 people, including a US student, were killed in an atrocity which targeted foreigners.

The condemned were found guilty of supplying weapons to the attackers who cut their victims down with machetes and assault rifles during the barbaric assault on the Holey Artisan bakery.

Some 30 hostages were taken, with those who could recite the Koran being spared, while the rest were killed. They included nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian and an American.

Some of those sentenced to be hanged shouted 'Allahu Akbar' and 'long live faith of Islam', as they were hauled off to waiting police vans in Dhaka on Wednesday.

A special anti-terrorism tribunal delivered the verdict in a crowded courtroom in the capital, with judge Mojibur Rahman saying the attackers wanted 'to draw the attention of Islamic State' group.

They wanted to 'undermine public safety, create anarchy and 'establish a Jihad(ist)' state, he said, adding that the seven 'will be executed by hanging until they are pronounced dead'.

An eighth man who had been charged was acquitted.

  

Police escort one of the condemned men away from the courthouse today after he was sentenced to death

Police investigators said the July 2016 attack in the affluent Gulshan neighbourhood was aimed at destabilising the Muslim majority nation of 168 million people and to turn it into an Islamist state.

Military commandos stormed the cafe after a 12-hour standoff and freed around 12 hostages, but many had been slaughtered within or killed outside in the crossfire.

   

Victims of the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery Attack

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seven-terrorists-sentenced-to-death-in-connection-with-the-2016-Dhaka-attack-48661.html

The American victim, Abinta Kabir, was from Miami, Florida.

Also among the dead were Faraaz Hossain, who attended business school at Emory University in Atlanta, and Tarushi Jain, 19, who studied at University of California's Berkeley campus.

Kabir, a sophomore at Emory's Oxford campus, was an American citizen, while Hossain was born in Bangladesh and Jain was of Indian origin.

The majority of those killed were stabbed with machetes and the people in the cafe were split into two groups. The foreigners were taken upstairs, while the Bangladeshis remained downstairs.

Speaking after the attack, Bangladeshi resident Hasnat Karim described bringing his family to the cafe in order to celebrate his daughter's birthday.

Hasnat was too traumatised to say more than a few words about his ordeal, saying only that the hostage-takers 'did not misbehave with us'.

But he detailed to his father Rezaul how the gunmen - who were armed with automatic weapons, bombs and long blades - had separated the diners.

Rezaul said: '(The foreigners) were taken to the upper floor and the Bangladeshis were kept around a table.'

He said his son told him the terrorists 'did not hit people who could recite verses from the Koran. The others were tortured'.

He added: 'The gunmen asked everyone inside to recite from the Koran. Those who recited were spared. The gunmen even gave them meals last night.'

  

Culprits of the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery Attack

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seven-terrorists-sentenced-to-death-in-connection-with-the-2016-Dhaka-attack-48661.html

Elite Bangladeshi commandos stormed the building after the long siege, freeing some 13 hostages, in addition to another eight who manged to flee.

Six of the terrorists were shot dead and one was arrested at the scene.

The assault was launched on the final Friday of Ramadan, as millions of Muslims prepare to celebrate the Eid holiday. The final ten days of Ramadan are the most solemn in the Islamic calendar.

Two police officers were killed, including a local police station chief, Mohammed Salahuddin, who was earlier injured in the shoot-out.

Another 25 officers and one civilian were injured in total.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected their claim, saying that it was domestic terror.

The attack fuelled tensions over Islamist extremism in the country.

The secular government launched a massive crackdown that saw more than 100 Islamist extremists killed and nearly 1,000 others arrested.

All five militants were killed when the military stormed the cafe.

Eight others - including mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, a Canadian of Bangladesh descent - were killed during raids in Dhaka and its suburbs months after the attack.

The dead also included commanders of a new faction of the homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which police blamed for most of the extremist attacks in the South Asian nation since late 1990s.

The hostage crisis marked an escalation from a spate of murders claimed by IS and Al Qaeda of rights activists, gay people, foreigners and religious minorities. It was seen as a major blow to the country's image as a moderate Muslim nation.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2426600170795268 .... …..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7730409/Islamists-sentenced-death-2016-Bangladesh-cafe-attack-22-people-killed.html

OTHER LINKS:

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/2019/11/28/7-to-hang-for-holey-artisan-terror-attack

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seven-terrorists-sentenced-to-death-in-connection-with-the-2016-Dhaka-attack-48661.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2016_Dhaka_attack

THREE MILITANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE MURDERS OF TWO FEMALE SCANDINAVIAN HIKERS [JULY 18, 2019]

            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.

  

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]

Morocco: 3 sentenced to death in Scandinavian women slayings

AMIRA EL-MASAITI

,

Associated Press•

July 19, 2019

SALE, Morocco (AP) — Three men were convicted of terrorism and sentenced to death by a Moroccan court Thursday for the brutal slaying of two Scandinavian women hiking in the Atlas Mountains.

A fourth suspect who fled the scene was given life in prison.

After several hours of deliberation, the court handed 19 accomplices jail terms ranging from five to 30 years. All have 10 days to appeal.

Security forces sit inside a court room before the start of a final trial session for suspects charged in connection with killing of two Scandinavian tourists in Morocco's Atlas Mountains, in Sale, near Rabat, Morocco, Thursday, July 18, 2019. The three main defendants in the brutal slaying of two female Scandinavian hikers have asked for forgiveness from Allah ahead of a verdict. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, were fatally stabbed in December. The slayings were recorded on video and posted online.

None of the 23 reacted as the sentences were read out Thursday, but their families rushed out of the crowded courtroom crying.

The men claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.

All 23 addressed the court before the verdicts, most begging for leniency.

The main defendants, who asked Allah for forgiveness, were carpenters Jounes Ouzayed and Rashid Afatti, and street merchant Abdessamad Al Joud. They were sentenced to death.

The man who fled the scene is Khaiali Abderahman, who got life.

Morocco only rarely carries out death sentences. The last execution was in 1993 of Mustapha Tabet, a once-powerful Casablanca police commissioner, convicted of raping and abusing hundreds of victims.

In closing arguments in June, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the top suspects to death, and described the three main defendants as "human beasts."

A Swiss-Spanish convert to Islam, Kevin Zoller, who had pleaded innocent, received a 20-year sentence. Prosecutors said he had links to the men who orchestrated the women's killings and direct contact with IS members in Syria via the encrypted messaging service Telegram.

Another Swiss man was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison, convicted on charges including "deliberately helping perpetrators of terrorist acts" and training terrorists, the state-run news agency MAP said at the time.

The lawyer for Vesterager's family said he was "100% satisfied" with the verdicts. Khalid El Fataoui noted that Louisa Vesterager's mother had asked the court in a letter at an earlier hearing this month to sentence the killers to death.

"We obtained what she asked for."

The court also ordered the four main defendants to pay the equivalent of $209,000 in damages to the family of the Norwegian victim, but refused a demand from the Danish victim's family for the Moroccan state to pay damages.

El Fataoui said he would appeal.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://news.yahoo.com/moroccan-court-3-death-sentences-170555996.html

 

3 of the Killers sentenced to death for the murders of Maren Ueland and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://steemit.com/informationwar/@gomeravibz/swedish-government-trying-to-cover-up-the-vicious-beheading-of-two-scandanvian-backpackers-in-morocco-by-followers-of-islam]

Three jihadists who beheaded two female Scandinavian hikers in Morocco are sentenced to death after pleading for 'forgiveness from Allah' - as judge declares them 'human beasts'

·         23 Moroccan men appeared in court to be sentenced for murdering Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway and Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark

·         Three men accused of stabbing them to death were handed death sentences 

·         Other 20 begged Allah for mercy as they waited to hear their fates Thursday 

·         Men filmed themselves beheading the pair and calling them 'enemies of God' 

By Chris Pleasance for MailOnline
 

Published: 01:02 AEST, 19 July 2019 | Updated: 02:28 AEST, 19 July 2019

Three suspected ISIS militants have been sentenced to death by firing squad for beheading two Scandinavian hikers in Morocco last year.

Suspected ringleader Abdessamad Ejjoud and two others - believed to be Jounes Ouzayed and Rashid Afatti - were handed the maximum sentence on Thursday after begging Allah for forgiveness. 

The men had filmed themselves beheading Norwegian Maren Ueland, 28, and 24-year-old Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, from Denmark, in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains in December. 

The footage was later circulated in Islamist circles online. In the video the men can be heard branding the women 'enemies of God'.

A separate video showed four of the men pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in front of a black and white ISIS flag. 

All 23 defendants addressed the court on Thursday, most pleaded with Allah for mercy, before the judges retired to decide their fate.

In his closing arguments in June, the prosecutor described the three as 'human beasts' and asked for death sentences. 

Thursday's sentencing marks the first time since 1993 that Morocco has handed out  the death penalty. 

The verdicts were given at a final court session of the 11-week trial in Sale, near the capital Rabat.

Journalists gathered outside the anti-terrorist court ahead of verdicts expected to be announced later Thursday in the case that has shocked the North African country.

'We expect sentences that match the cruelty of the crime,' lawyer Khaled El Fataoui, speaking for the family of Danish victim Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, told AFP.

Helle Petersen, her mother, in a letter read out in court last week, said: 'The most just thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve.' 

Petitions on social media have likewise called for their execution.

The three admitted to killing Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland, whose family has declined to take part in the trial. 

The prosecution has called for jail terms of between 15 years and life for the 21 other defendants on trial since May 2. 

A life sentence has been sought for Abderrahim Khayali, a 33-year-old plumber, who had accompanied the three alleged assailants but left the scene before the murders.

The prosecution called for 20 years in jail for Kevin Zoller Guervos, a Spanish-Swiss convert to Islam.

The only non-Moroccan in the group, Guervos is accused of having taught the main suspects how to use an encrypted messaging service and to use weapons.

His lawyer, Saad Sahli, said Guervos had cut all ties with the other suspects 'once he knew they had extremist ideas' more than 18 months ago. 

All but three of those on trial had said they were supporters of the Islamic State group, according to the prosecution, although IS itself has never claimed responsibility for the murders.

The three killers of the women were 'bloodthirsty monsters', the prosecution said, pointing out that an autopsy report had found 23 injuries on Jespersen's decapitated body and seven on that of Ueland.

Ejjoud, an underground imam, had confessed at a previous hearing to beheading one of the women and Younes Ouaziyad, a 27-year-old carpenter, the other, while Rachid Afatti, 33, had videoed the murders on his mobile phone.

The defence team argued there were 'mitigating circumstances on account of their precarious social conditions and psychological disequilibrium'.

Coming from modest backgrounds, with a 'very low' level of education, the defendants lived for the most part in low-income areas of Marrakesh.

Jespersen's lawyers have accused authorities of having failed to monitor the activities of some of the suspects before the murders.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7261523/Three-jihadists-beheaded-two-female-Scandinavian-hikers-Morocco-sentenced-death.html

Defendants are brought to the court in Sale at an earlier stage of the trial. Photo: Stringer / Reuters / Ritzau Scanpix

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.thelocal.dk/20190712/mother-of-murdered-danish-student-urges-death-sentences-in-morocco-trial]

Morocco sentences three to death for murder of Scandinavian tourists

FRANCE 24 English

Published on Jul 19, 2019

Islamic State group supporters were sentenced to death by a court in Morocco on Thursday over the beheadings of two Scandinavian women on a hiking trip in the High Atlas Mountains.

VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XEySY-sxiE

  

OTHER LINKS:

Moroccans Condemn Tourist Murders at Danish, Norwegian Embassies

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2019/01/moroccans-condemn-tourist-murders-at.html

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-murders-of-louisa-vesterager.html

Mother of murdered Danish student urges death sentences in Morocco trial

https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2165331223588832

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2019/07/mother-of-murdered-danish-student-urges.html

BLOG POST FACEBOOK LINK: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2177071872414767

BLOG POST: https://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2019/07/three-militants-sentenced-to-death-for.html

PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/photos/a.1870000049788619/2180413425413945/?type=3&theater