Morocco Court to Deliver Verdict in Scandinavian Hikers’ Murder Trial

The 24 people will have to make their final statements, before the judges in charge of the case retire to decide on the sentence they will have to serve. Several petitions on social media have called for the death penalty against the killers of the two Scandinavians.

The mother of Louisa Vesterager, the 24-year-old Danish student, has called on the Moroccan judges to impose the death penalty on the murderers. "The fairest thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve, I ask you," can be read in Helle Petersen’s letter.

The King’s Prosecutor had demanded the death penalty for the "bloodthirsty monsters" and life imprisonment for the 21 other individuals. The moratorium on the death penalty, in place since 1993, is still a subject of debate and could be an obstacle to the sentence.

The compensation claimed by the civil party, which refers to "the civil liability of the State", amounts to 10 million dirhams. The authorities have flatly denied the state’s involvement in this terrorist act, referring to the country’s recognized "terrorist expertise" at the international level.