The Girona Court has tried three defendants for kidnapping a young man in an apartment in the city on the night of November 11, 2024, and demanding more than 9,000 euros from his family to release him. The prosecution is seeking nine and a half years in prison for each of them for kidnapping, threats, and a minor offense of assault.
The case revolves around a dispute over the sale of a substance that the defendants believed to be pink cocaine and which, according to the victim's testimony, was actually powdered ecstasy. Following this conflict, the family went from an initial demand of 7,000 euros to paying 9,000 and also facing a subsequent transfer of another 1,000.
The mother handed over 9,000 euros and the defendants withdrew another 800
The victim testified in court that it all began in a Girona apartment, where he was held after the argument related to the drug sale. During the hearing, he explained that he did not report the incident at first because he was "scared shitless" and feared retaliation.
According to the prosecution, the mother heard her son say in a video call that those holding him wanted money and that if they didn't get it, they would kill him. She testified that they initially demanded 7,000 euros, but the amount increased to 9,000 because she took too long to gather the money.
The ransom was paid at an ATM located at the intersection of Nou and Santa Clara streets. Before releasing the young man, the captors also demanded a transfer of 1,000 euros to the victim's own card and only managed to withdraw 800 euros from that amount.
The mother has only recovered a little over 1,000 euros of all the money she handed over. This discrepancy between the ransom paid and the amount recovered was included in the trial along with the other financial damages reported by the family.
The videos showed the young man tied up and the aggressors with wads of cash
During the oral hearing in the third section of the Girona Court, the parties played numerous videos and photographs recorded by the aggressors themselves. These images showed the victim tied up and gagged, as well as the defendants posing with wads of cash.
One of the defendants went to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) the next day to report what had happened. In his statement, he claimed that he acted under duress from a fourth individual who could not be located.
The three defendants testified at the end of the trial and only answered questions from their defense attorneys. All claimed a long history of drug use and psychiatric or psychological treatments for various disorders, while the defendant denied having participated and stated that she could do nothing to stop it.
The prosecution is seeking nine and a half years in prison for kidnapping, threats, and assault for each defendant, and the trial has been submitted for sentencing in the Girona Court.