The trial of the so-called
Los Suecos
clan is nearing its end.
After 10 sessions in which the case has been deflating little by little, this Friday the prosecutor, Carlos Tejada, has announced before the court the sentences he is requesting for each of the eight accused of the murders of David Ávila, Maradona
,
in May 2018 in Marbella, and by Soufian Mohamed,
Zocato
, in August of that same year in Estepona.
For the confessed author of the shots, Ahmed Abdul Karim, the prosecution has demanded 12 years in prison, despite the fact that the initial request was for a reviewable permanent prison, as was also the case with the other three leaders of the group.
They are his brother Karim Abdul Karim, for whom three years, eight months and 10 days in jail are requested;
and Fahkry Mekky, who is required three years and six months.
Also Amir Mekky, whom the police consider to be the leader of the group, for which the public prosecutor's office has requested two years, 10 months and one day.
Just yesterday, a court in Malmö, the Swedish city where the four come from, issued an arrest warrant against him for drug trafficking, to which EL PAÍS has had access, and he must be handed over to the Swedish authorities as soon as he is released. from jail.
This step is not the last step of the trial.
The popular jury has yet to give its verdict, scheduled for the middle of next week.
Then, it will be the judge's turn to make his sentence firm.
This execution will mean that everyone is expelled from the country, an accessory penalty requested by the prosecutor.
Also the four accomplices, who are in fact already in Sweden and whose role in the facts is more secondary.
For them, a year, ten months and 15 days in prison are requested, and their defenses have requested that the sentence be suspended if there is a guilty verdict for being less than two years old, with the idea that they should not be behind bars in their country either. originally.
Yes, they will continue to be imprisoned in Spain, Karim Abdul Karim —who is serving a sentence for placing two explosives on the Costa del Sol—, his brother Ahmed and Amir Mekky,
to which there are a couple of months left to complete the sentence requested.
Police sources explain, yes, that since the new European arrest warrant launched yesterday from Sweden is already in force, his rights will be read in jail and he will be sent to his country in the short term.
More information
Swedish drug traffickers escaping the cold on the Costa del Sol
The reduction in sentences requested by the prosecutor is based on two key aspects.
The first, that the Swedish and Danish authorities placed as a condition for the defendants to be tried in Spain that the crime of criminal organization be eliminated, a significant aggravating circumstance.
Without him, the number of years in prison was destined to be greatly reduced, but, above all, the way in which the trial itself was handled changed: the murders should now be considered separately, not as part of a plan organized by a group of people as maintained by the police hypothesis.
In fact, the main defendants have shared their participation in the murders and only the gunman assumes both.
The second, the existence of mitigating factors, which have had a lot of weight.
So,
The recognition of the facts has been considered - all the defendants confessed during the trial - and the restitution of the damage - they have paid 120,000 euros to Zocato's widow and 80,000 to Maradona's.
In the case of the murderer, stubbornness or anger has acted as a third extenuating factor.
All this has been taking shape in the conversations that the private prosecution, defenses and prosecution have held for weeks to reach an agreement.
The prosecution has ensured that all of them will be sentenced —unless the popular jury says otherwise, something that would be exceptional if one takes into account that all the defendants assumed their guilt— and that the sentence entails expulsion from the country.
The idea was always that no member of the clan could continue to carry out any activity in Spain, much to the relief of the police and the anger of the Swedish authorities.
On the other hand, the families will receive compensation and make sure that the members of the clan do not come closer than 500 meters under the risk of violating the restraining order that has also been requested for them.
What has been proven during the trial is that on May 12, 2018, Ahmed Abdul Karim shot Maradona at least five times (who died almost instantly) when he was getting into his car, just after his son's communion in the church of the Virgen de Rocío in San Pedro Alcántara, in Marbella.
The murderer, dressed in black and with a full-face helmet of the same color, then escaped with his Yamaha T-Max motorcycle to the Cortijo del Mar urbanization, in Estepona, where he hid it with the help of his brother Karim and Fahkry Mekky, who had there rented an apartment.
In this case, Ahmed is asked for four years in prison for the crime of murder, his brother three years, eight months and ten days as an accessory to murder and Mekky another three years and six months for the same crime.
For three other people, the prosecutor asks for a year,
It has also been proven that on August 20 of the same year, Amir Mekky, whom the police consider to be the leader of the group, stayed in Puerto Banús with Soufian Mohamed to entertain him and give Ahmed Abdul Karim time to prepare the second murder.
He arrived by bicycle to the vicinity of his victim's house, who arrived at his home at dawn and, after going out again with his mobile on minutes later, was shot nine times at point-blank range that ended his life.
For the author of the shots, eight years in prison are requested for a crime of murder, while Mekky is required two years, ten months and one day as an accomplice.
Another person, who provided his identity to rent a car with which surveillance work was carried out on the deceased, could face one year, ten months and 15 days in prison.
