By: V4 Agency
Many complained when state TV broadcast an interview with a rapper boasting a heavy criminal background. It turned out recently that he may have been involved in a brutal kidnapping incident last year, which eventually led to his arrest on New Year’s Eve.
When SVT, Sweden’s pulic service television company interviewed Somali national Yasin Abdullahi Mahamoud last November, there was a palpable outcry. It turns out that Mr Mahamoud, a known rapper, also has an extensive criminal record. He spent time in jail and, according to Samhallsnytt, has close ties to a criminal gang called Shottaz in Rinkeby.
To the host’s one and only question regarding Mr Mahamoud’s criminal background, the Somali rapper came up with a rather elusive reply. When the show was over, many expressed their outrage online, slamming Sweden’s public broadcaster for featuring a criminal in its programme.
Media outlets have recently unearthed another serious incident, in which Mr Mahamoud may have been involved. According to Samhallsnytt, a young rapper named Nils Gronberg – aka Einar – was kidnapped last April. He was lured into a trap and abducted by several individuals, who later published some pictures online. These show Einar wearing women’s underwear, but his kidnappers have also put a wig and a dog leash on him, and pressed sharp objects to his face.
Allegedly, the kidnappers stole the rapper’s watch and tried to extort millions from him. Authorities believe that he was threatened at gunpoint and sexually abused, because the abductors’ goal was to humiliate him as part of the robbery.
Mr Mahamoud’s name also came up in connection with the kidnapping. Police arrested him on New Year’s Eve on suspicion of aiding and abetting a crime, which implies that he consulted others, agreed to commit the crime and also attempted to persuade others to participate. According to police, these preparations were made two weeks before Einar’s abduction.
Mr Mahamoud has an extensive criminal record. He was involved in a number of violent crimes committed with the use of a gun. He was once arrested in connection with a brutal execution, but his record also features various drug-related crimes and DUI offences.