Three Danish nationals, including one who fought in Syria, were arrested in the German city of Aachen along with another man on September 4 for kidnapping, according to the German newspaper Der Spiegel.
The four men are suspected of kidnapping a 52-year-old Egyptian man in Aachen and demanding a 10,000 euro ransom from the man’s family.
On September 4, the four allegedly forced the man into a car by threatening him with a knife and a screwdriver, before calling the man’s uncle and demanding the money. But the family instead called the police and the men were all arrested at a café later that evening.
The three Danes are reportedly a 22-year-old man from Aarhus named Michael C – who has been to Syria at least twice – a 20 year-old man from Viby and another man without a permanent address.
READ MORE: Number of asylum seekers charged with crimes rising
Converted to Islam
Michael C’s lawyer, Andreas Fleuster, said the motive for the kidnapping was still unclear.
“I don’t have any information that would indicate there is a political motive behind the crime,” Fleuster told Der Spiegel.
“For me it seems like my client was unlucky enough to get mixed up in this case. The motive is unclear and the ransom is incredibly small for four men.”
Michael C has a checkered past, spending two years in prison for robbery and violence in his youth, before converting to Islam in prison and allegedly travelling to Syria to fight alongside jihadists.
