The shocking moment a man in Sydney was kidnapped and assaulted by four men – including the victim’s brother-in-law – has been revealed in court, nearly two years on from the violent incident.
Footage of the kidnapping carried out on January 11, 2023, was played in Parramatta District Court on Thursday, the Parramatta Advertiser reports, where two members of the offending group appeared for sentencing.
Kodar Faytrouni, Safwan Hussein, Ali Hamad and Abud Elkerdi travelled from Melbourne to Guildford to capture Younis Younis in a plot initiated by Faytrouni because he believed the 25-year-old had only married his sister to secure an Australian visa.
In the video of the kidnapping, recorded by Hamad, Hussein can be seen putting Younis in a headlock while his brother-in-law sat beside him in a car.
Further footage, also recorded by Hamad, shows Faytrouni physically assaulting Younis at his mother’s home on Guildford Rd.
The victim was also taken to another property on Constance St, Guildford.
Police put an end to the incident several hours later when they stopped the attackers’ car.
All four men have pleaded guilty to charges of taking or detaining a person in company.
While Faytrouni’s lawyer argued that his client’s low intellect was to blame for the “bizarre” events, Judge Stephen Hanley said his motive was based on his not accepting his sister’s choice of husband.
“It shows a complete failure to allow this woman to select who she wants to have as her partner,” Judge Hanley told the court, according to the Parramatta Advertiser.
He described the attackers as misogynistic and the kidnapping as planned and targeted.
“They seem to be able to find him, break into his house, extract him from his house, assault him in the car, force him to make a divorce according to Islamic law while his partner listens on the phone with a distressed condition … and you say this is below mid-range (of objective seriousness)?” Judge Hanley said.
“This man and his comrades seem to have a strange attitude towards women.”
Crown prosecutor Adam Muddle said Faytrouni attributed his offense to the responsibility he felt towards his sister and his belief that her marriage was not genuine.
“The Crown submits that this is quite a degree of insight and a degree of knowledge in terms of the motivations in the reasons behind this offending,” he said.
The men are yet to learn the fate: Faytrouni and Elkerdi’s cases were adjourned on Thursday until December 20, after the latter was taken to Westmead Hospital, having collapsed during lunch adjournment.
Hamad and Hussein are due to appear again on December 13.
