Mohamed Laktit, sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison for kidnapping and imprisoning a 13-year-old boy as well as taking hostage and torturing a man in his 30s in Temse, has been arrested at a relative’s home in Antwerp.
The 41-year-old has contested his default conviction and is requesting a retrial, according to his lawyer, as reported on Friday by Het Laatste Nieuws.
On 21 April 2020, a 13-year-old boy was abducted by four armed, masked men impersonating police officers from his family home on Kampstraat in Genk.
The boy was held captive for 42 days at various locations. The mastermind behind the kidnapping, Khalid Bouloudo, was sentenced to 29 years in prison.
Mohamed Laktit and his brothers, Abderrahman and Yassine, were also found guilty of taking hostage and torturing a 37-year-old man from Temse between 12 and 17 February 2020.
The victim was imprisoned and tortured in the basement of the Laktit family home in Antwerp.
In addition to Mohamed Laktit, his brother Abderrahman and an associate, Gülhan Yildirim, were tried in absentia. Both received 29-year prison sentences. Yildirim is reported to have fled to Turkey.
