Four Suspects Jailed in Brussels Kidnapping and Extortion Case

The judge charged Mohamed A., Younes E., Marouane E.K. and Ibrahim E.M. with attempted extortion in a gang, at night and with a weapon, but also with arbitrary detention with threats and intentional assault and battery resulting in incapacity for work, reports La Capitale. The events took place on the night of Saturday to Sunday last in Anderlecht. The four suspects kidnapped and sequestered the victim, A.M., in an empty house on the Edingen road in Hal, near the A8 Brussels-Tournai motorway.

Shortly afterwards, the victim managed to escape through a window, go to a neighboring house and alert the police, the Hal-Vilvorde public prosecutor’s office said this weekend. When they arrived on the scene, the special units of the federal police managed to apprehend the four suspects. During the kidnapping, the suspects extorted 3,000 euros in cash from A.M.

The motives for the kidnapping are, for the time being, unknown. According to Het Laatste Nieuws, it would be drug-related facts. The four suspects and the victim are all known to the justice system and the Brussels drug scene. Mohamed A. is said to have already served around ten years in prison for various offenses, including involuntary manslaughter. In 2008, Younes E. and he were tried for the violent assault of a jeweler in Waterloo, which occurred the previous year.