Rabat – The mastermind of the Imlil murder case, who has initially been sentenced to death, revealed important new details during the case’s third appeal.
Abdessamad El Joud admitted that he planned the slaughter of the two Scandinavian volunteers, “Maren” and “Louisa”, together with Rachid Afatii and Younes Ouziad.
El Joud pointed out that the fourth main defendant, Abderrahman Khayali, accompanied them but returned before committing the crime and that the remaining 20 defendants have no links to the crime.
El Joud added that he had held meetings with the other three defendants to discuss Islam, jihad, and immigration to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He also mentioned being arrested in 2013 for his intention to join ISIS.
The main defendant explained that, since 2011, he watched videos of “Christians” killing women and children in hospitals and nurseries with phosphorus gas, and bombing mosques as well as other sites that are not related to the Syrian conflict.
The online content provoked El Joud’s desire for “revenge, and a conviction to join Syria to defend Muslims.”
The defendants’ lawyer, Hafida Maksaoui, told Morocco World News that “El Joud expressed regret but refused to apologize to the victims’ families.”
“They are only two, we are millions,” the defendant said, referring to Muslims facing persecution worldwide.
On July 18, the Criminal Chamber in charge of counter-terrorism cases in the Court of Appeal of Sale handed down sentences for the murders, ranging from five years in prison to capital punishment.
The main defendants are accused of “forming a gang to commit terror crimes and intentionally assaulting the life of persons premeditatedly.”
They are also accused of weapons possession, and “attempt to manufacture explosives with the intention to cause serious public harm, terrorism, and violence.”
