COPENHAGEN: Danish police on Thursday said they had launched prosecutions against 14 people suspected of sharing on social media the murder video of one of the two young Scandinavian hikers killed in Morocco.
Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland were found dead at an isolated hiking spot south of Marrakesh on December 17.
The pair were stabbed, had their throats slit and were then beheaded, according to Morocco’s counter-terror chief.
A video circulating on social networks at the time, believed authentic by authorities, showed one of the murders in the High Atlas mountains.
“The 14 people are accused of violating the penal code by sharing the video — usually via Facebook Messenger or other social networks,” said East Jutland police chief Michael Kjeldgaard in a statement.
Two of them are also accused of apologizing for terrorism, the prosecution told AFP.
Six of those indicted, whose identities have not been revealed, are between 13 and 18 years old.
The grisly killings of the hikers shocked Morocco, where tourism is a cornerstone of the economy.
Moroccan authorities have called the killings a “terrorist” act and charged more than 20 people for their alleged involvement.
The authorities allege that the four main suspects in the murder were inspired by the Daesh group, but say they were not in direct contact with Daesh members in Iraq or Syria.
Denmark police prosecute 14 over sharing Morocco hikers ‘murder video’
Denmark police prosecute 14 over sharing Morocco hikers ‘murder video’
- A video circulating on social networks at the time, believed authentic by authorities, showed one of the murders in the High Atlas mountains
‘Keep dreaming’: NATO chief says Europe can’t defend itself without US
BRUSSELS: NATO chief Mark Rutte warned Monday Europe cannot defend itself without the United States, in the face of calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland.
US President Donald Trump roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous Danish territory — before backing off after talks with Rutte last week.
The diplomatic crisis sparked gave fresh momentum to those advocating for Europe to take a tougher line against Trump and break its military reliance on Washington.
“If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US — keep on dreaming. You can’t,” Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.
He said that EU countries would have to double defense spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to 10 percent and spend “billions and billions” on building nuclear arms.
“You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,” Rutte said. “So hey, good luck.”
The former Dutch prime minister insisted that US commitment to NATO’s Article Five mutual defense clause remained “total,” but that the United States expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.
“They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the US has every interest in NATO,” he said.
The NATO head reiterated his repeated praise for Trump for pressuring reluctant European allies to step up defense spending.
He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU’s defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius earlier this month for a possible European defense force that could replace US troops on the continent.
“It will make things more complicated. I think Putin will love it. So think again,” Rutte said.
On Greenland, Rutte said he had agreed with Trump that NATO would “take more responsibility for the defense of the Arctic,” but it was up to Greenlandic and Danish authorities to negotiate over US presence on the island.
“I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn’t, and I will not,” he said.
Rutte reiterated that he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan after the US leader caused outrage by playing down their contribution.
“For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,” he said.
“I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts.”
