Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
A Moroccan teacher has been arrested for calling for these pretty female Belgian volunteers to be decapitated for wearing shorts and not “respecting the Muslim faith”.
The Moroccan primary school teacher, who has not been named but who is 26, allegedly called for female Belgian volunteers working in the Taroudant area to have their “heads cut off” on social media.
The incident comes just weeks after the three men who beheaded two Swedish women who were backpacking in the Atlas mountains in the north of the country were sentenced to death for the murders.
Pictures Credit: CEN/al3omk & CEN/Twitter
According to local media, the teacher called for their decapitation because he wanted to “teach a lesson to those who do not respect the Muslim faith”, referring to “young girls in skimpy clothing.”
The women the man allegedly threatened had been working on a road to link an isolated village to the town of Taroudant and they had been interviewed by local media, appearing on camera.
Footage posted on an Arabic-language YouTube channel and showing the young women working on the road while talking in English about what they were doing has notched up 365,000 views in five days.
One of the Belgian girls, named in French media as Luna, said: “All the population is very kind. They are always friendly and they always say hello and how are you, and what is your name. I really love it here. I am really happy that I came here.
She added: “This is such a lovely country and everything here is very cool.”
Another of the girls, Aline, 15, said in French: “I am here to help Moroccans and it is really interesting to see the differences between us and them.
She added: “Morocco is a beautiful country.”
The comments were posted on social media and have led to the teacher’s arrest for “inciting terrorist acts”.
Moroccan authorities (the DGSN, the General Directorate for National Security) announced the arrest of a primary school teacher on Monday evening in El Ksar El Kebir, a city in north-western Morocco.
Moroccan authorities said in a statement that the man was arrested for “his presumed implication in an affair of glorifying terrorism and inciting terrorist acts.”
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were found decapitated in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco on 17th December 2018. Footage of their murders was posted on social media. Three suspects were convicted of their murder and sentenced to death in July 2019.
Many netizens commented on the DGSN’s statement, which was also posted on Twitter, with ‘mensatutur’ saying in French: “People devote themselves to others, people are generous, and remarks worthy of prehistory are addressed to them. It is time that some finally enter the 21st century! We cannot still live in the Middle Ages in 2019!!!”
While ‘kherjoujhassan’, like many others, praised the security services, saying in Arabic: “Thanks and appreciation to you for your valuable efforts to reduce the sources of extremism and provide security for the homeland and its citizens.”
Ali El Asri, a member of the Islamist party (the Party for Justice and Development) caused indignation, according to French media, when he said on Facebook, in reaction to the arrest: “Since when do Europeans do work in their swimming costumes?”
Reacting to his comment, ‘Kamal Jerrari’ said: “Thank you to these young and caring people for showing compassion and love to our local villages. I can’t say that much for the PJD MP or give any respect for anyone who would think otherwise.”
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