A four-member group from Scandinavia faced charges in a case tied to two killings in 2018 near Marbella and Estepona. Prosecutors allege that they plotted the murders and that bullets struck vital organs. The defense rejects the involvement of their clients and maintains there is insufficient evidence. The trial, described as highly anticipated, began this Tuesday in a provincial court following last week’s jury selection. The proceedings, scheduled to run through May, involve four other suspects accused of aiding the group known in the press as Los Suecos. The National Police had detained the defendants at various stages of the investigation. A Malaga-based press group reported that the prosecutor seeks life imprisonment for the sibling couple Amir and Fakhry Mekky and Ahmad and Karim Abdul, along with two additional years for two counts of murder and two more years for each for illegal weapon possession. The court also contemplates accomplice charges, with the Public Prosecutor requesting 12 years in prison for each of the involved accomplices.
The first case to be considered concerns the murder of David Ávila, alias Maradona, who was shot when entering a car with his family in May 2018 in San Pedro Alcántara, just as one of his children witnessed the tragedy. The second killing occurred in August in Estepona, when Ahmed Barak, known as Zocatoh, had just arrived home after spending the night with Amir, whom investigators regard as the group’s leader. Prosecutor Carlos Tejada outlined to jurors that witnesses, defendants, and experts will be heard at the hearing, yet the victims cannot be questioned directly. Two defense attorneys mentioned that the deceased men allegedly had drug trafficking affiliations. Tejada emphasized that although those affiliations exist, they do not justify murder. He described the Ávila incident, noting that five shots were fired, ending the victim’s life at the scene, followed by a close-range second shot that left him unable to survive. The prosecutors also asserted that the defendants were not aware of the illicit criminal activities they were allegedly involved in.
“A Complicated Essay”
During an on-record session with reporters, the prosecutor called the case a lengthy inquiry that presents a trial of considerable complexity. The matter touches Spain and Sweden, and the defense has connections to Malmö. The prosecutor added that jury selection has been lengthy precisely due to the case’s intricacy, with plans for videoconference testimonies and other procedural concessions to accommodate the involved parties and locations.
On discussions about potential deals with the defense, the prosecutor confirmed that conversations occur routinely, but no agreement had been reached at that moment. A lawyer representing Barak’s relatives, who is handling the special accusation, argued that the two murders follow a common method and were carried out by hitmen capable of such crimes. The lawyer pointed to the seriousness of the charges while noting that the perpetrators are not in the courtroom and urged a careful evaluation of the evidence, suggesting that some elements do not fit together. Investigators indicated that at least one victim was involved in cocaine trafficking and the other in marijuana smuggling, describing two worlds that appear aligned but are distinct, and stressing that the current procedures do not constitute a definitive test to prove the whole theory.
“He’s not a little angel, but he’s not a murderer either”
The defense teams pushed back on any assertion of guilt, contending there was no solid evidence in the provisional minutes. One attorney argued that scientific data does not fully corroborate the prosecution’s narrative, asserting that there is no conclusive test to prove all charges. This lawyer, who has more time in court proceedings to present his case, described his client as not an angel yet not a killer. He emphasized that the facts are grave, but the central point remains that the main culprits are not present in the room. He urged investigators to avoid forcing conclusions that do not align with the available evidence. Police reports allegedly suggest a motive connected to debt and retaliation, though the defense maintained that the murders were not connected and that the hypothesis proposed by the prosecution lacks solid evidence and logical coherence. The defense stressed that the investigations point to two distinct criminal worlds rather than a single, unified operation.