STA, 29 January 2020 - Three migrants who kidnapped a 79-year old local from Bela Krajina in May 2019 have each been sentenced to a year and nine months in prison. While two pleaded guilty in August 2019, the third was only sentenced on Tuesday after the court received documents confirming his age.
The paper Slovenske Novice reports on Wednesday that the Algerian was sentenced after the Novo Mesto District Court received document showing the man turned 26 in September 2019.
Related: 79-Yr Old Črnomelj Man Kidnapped by Migrants, Released Near Sežana
His age had to be checked because he had three different documents while in prison, each indicating a different date of birth.
In the end, his family was the one to forward genuine identification documents to the court, as the man expressed the wish to the court to start serving the sentence as soon as possible.
He was apprehended alongside an Algerian who was 18 years old at the time of the incident, and a 25-year-old Moroccan.
The three robbed and restrained an elderly local and took his car to make their way from the Croatian to the Italian border, taking the man along to prevent him from calling the police.
Before reaching the border, they cut the ties on the man's hands and crossed into Italy on foot. They were arrested by the Italian police and returned to Slovenia.
All three men regretted their actions, apologising to their victim and the state. Apart from serving their prison sentences, the men will have to pay EUR 213 to their victim to cover the cost accrued for a rental car, after his car was damaged in the incident.
They will be expelled from the country upon their release from prison.
