Swedish, American kidnap Asian man, threaten to 'chop him up'
The duo have now been jailed in Dubai.
A Swedish and an American have each been sentenced to five years in jail after they were found guilty of kidnapping and holding a Pakistani man against his will and threatening to kill him and his wife by 'chopping' them up for Dh100,000 ransom.
The two, including a 39-year-old businessman and a manager, 52, have been accused of blackmailing the technician for a Dh100,000 ransom. They eventually extorted Dh75,000 cheque from his sister who came for his help, as per the prosecution records. The case dates back to January 29, 2015.
The Court of First Instance convicted them of charges including false imprisonment, making criminal threats and blackmail, and physical assault. It ordered their deportation after completing their jail terms.
The complainant, an advertising technician, 35, said that the Swedish man invited him over the phone to his flat in Jumeirah Village to discuss a project regarding holding a multicultural celebration event. There, they seized his mobile phone and laptop.
The accused then asked him about the funding he had earlier discussed for the project with them, after which the businessman punched him to the ground while his friend brought an axe with which he threatened him.
The complainant ran away to a nearby petrol station where he hid in the washroom but the pair followed him and lured him out.
They lured him out through a woman accomplice - who is at large - to accompany them back to the flat to work the matter out.
However, they took his clothes off there and called his wife and told her that he was injured in a car accident. They threatened to hurt her if he did not arrange for Dh200,000 for them but all he could only arrange for Dh6,000. His sister came later with her husband and handed them a cheque worth Dh75,000.
The complainant's wife said that she found her husband lying down, stripped off his clothes and bearing torture marks and crying when she went to the defendant's flat.
Her husband's hair was cut. The Swedish man, from whose place the police later recovered the Dh75,000 cheque and the complainant's laptop, told the technician's wife that her husband owed him money.
The two accused may appeal the verdict.
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