Sahil kidnap trial closes

THE trial in Spain of a gang which allegedly plotted the kidnapping of Oldham five-year-old Sahil Saeed in Pakistan has concluded.

Muhammad Zahid Saleem, his wife Gianina Monica Neruja and their flatmate Muhammad Sageiz have been on trial for eight days in Tarragona for their alleged role in the March, 2010, kidnapping.

A panel of three judges at Tarragona’s Provincial Court will now deliberate on the case and publish verdicts for the two Pakistani men and Romanian woman in the coming weeks.

Saleem, the alleged mastermind behind the schoolboy’s kidnapping, denies charges of kidnap of a minor, conspiracy, robbery in conjunction with a crime of trespassing and eight charges of unlawful arrest. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 67 years.

Neruja and Sageiz deny charges of kidnap of a minor and conspiracy, and could each be jailed for 13 years.

In her concluding remarks, Maria Jose Osuna, for the prosecution, said: “I ask for the maximum prison terms for all three defendants. This was a very serious crime involving the kidnapping of a boy who was just five years old at the time. He spent 13 days hostage, it was a terrible experience for him and his family.

Sahil was snatched by an armed gang at his grandmother’s home during a holiday with his father in Jhelum.

Four masked men carrying AK-47 assault rifles and grenades tied and beat members of the family and ransacked the house before making off with the child.

An international police operation was launched and Sahil was released in Pakistan after a £110,000 ransom was dropped off in Paris and allegedly collected by Saleem and Neruja.