Suspended sentences and fines for five over kidnapping linked to Syrian conflict

Five men have been handed suspended prison sentences and fines over the abduction of a man in Malta, in a case that stemmed from hostilities linked to the Syrian conflict.

The incident took place on 13 January 2021 between 3:30pm and 7pm. The court heard that while the abduction was not intended to cause fatal harm, it was aimed at intimidating and lightly injuring the victim.

The arrests followed an anti-terrorism raid carried out by the police in Ħal Safi and Żurrieq. Investigators said the altercation was rooted in political divisions among Syrian nationals living in Malta.

Alhasan Abdulrahman, a 40-year-old Syrian national, was accused of kidnapping the victims with the intent to cause injury and of carrying a knife without a licence.

Three others, Ghyas Dahrouj, 51, and Safi Dahrouj, 34, both Syrian, and 34-year-old Libyan national Fadel Abdulsalam, were charged as accomplices in the kidnapping.

Ahmed Hassan, 31, residing in Żurrieq, was accused alongside Abdulrahman of spreading fear among the victims, Mohamed Alsatif and Bakir Masoud, in the months leading up to the incident.

The court found all five guilty of serious offences involving the unlawful detention of a person, threats, and violence. However, in determining their punishment, the magistrate noted that the accused had clean or nearly clean criminal records and therefore opted not to impose effective prison sentences.

Abdulrahman and Hassan were both handed two-year jail terms, suspended for four years. Abdulrahman was fined €5,000, while Hassan was fined €8,000, with a five-year restraining order issued in favour of the victims.

Ghyas Dahrouj received a 15-month sentence suspended for three years, while Safi Dahrouj and Abdulsalam were each given 18 months’ imprisonment, also suspended for three years.

All were ordered to cover the legal costs related to the court-appointed expert.

The court reminded the defendants that the sentence served not only as punishment but also as a tool for rehabilitation, warning them that any breach of the law during the suspension period would activate their prison terms.

“They said they would throw me off a cliff”

The victim, Mohamed Alsatif Ibrahim, testified that he was abducted in Birkirkara by five men, Abdulrahman, Hassan, and the Dahrouj brothers, together with Abdulsalam, who forced him into a vehicle.

Alsatif said Abdulrahman held a knife to his back, telling him his uncle Ghyas wanted to speak to him. Once inside the vehicle, he was surrounded and later taken to Marsaskala against his will, where the men assaulted and threatened him.

He described how the accused told him they would throw him off a cliff and film the act, warning him that if he reported them to the police, they had citizenship and could “do whatever they wanted.”

Alsatif said the men repeatedly demanded he leave Malta, claiming that people from his Syrian hometown had killed relatives of the Dahrouj family. Eventually, he managed to escape from the moving vehicle near the airport and sought help from a passing driver who took him to safety.

Another alleged victim, Bakir Masoud, testified that Ahmed Hassan had previously attacked him in Marsaskala in September 2020, threatening to plant cocaine in his possession if he did not leave Malta. He, too, was told that his life was in danger due to his political stance on the Syrian conflict.

Masoud said the accused were supporters of the Syrian government, while he was not, and that this political division had fuelled the animosity.

In her judgment, the magistrate said the aggravating factors included the victim’s unlawful detention, the use of threats and violence, and the psychological harm caused.

However, she took into account the accused’s clean criminal records, their apparent cooperation, and the years that had passed since the incident, concluding that suspended sentences were sufficient to serve justice while offering them a chance at rehabilitation.

The case was prosecuted by Inspector Omar Zammit, while the defendants were represented by lawyers Franco Debono, Alessandro Farrugia and Kris Busietta. The court was presided over by Magistrate Anne Marie Thake.