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| - A Swedish rapper was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to kidnap another rap artist, just days after the accused was named Artist of the Year in a Swedish music awards ceremony. Yasin Mahamoud, known by his artist name Yasin, has racked up millions of plays on Spotify and has had several Swedish chart-toppers in recent years. In a case that has drawn broad media attention in the Scandinavian country, the 22-year-old has been held in custody since New Year's Eve for his alleged involvement in planning of the kidnapping in March 2020. Yasin, who has denied the charges, was named Artist of the Year and Hiphop/RnB Artist of the Year at the P3 Guldgalan awards organised by Swedish public radio on Saturday. He was unable to accept the awards in person as he was in police custody. The name of the intended victim has not been disclosed publicly. According to the indictment submitted to the Sodertorn district court, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, Yasin planned on March 30-31 last year first to meet the rapper at a music studio, then to lure him into a car in central Stockholm in a bid "to cause injury to his life or health" and blackmail him over sensitive photographs. The prosecution claims Yasin "received information, passed on information, and gave orders and instructions about how and when the crime would be carried out." The charge sheet said Yasin, who was convicted of a weapons charge in 2018, was drawn into the plot by others at an advanced stage. The planned kidnapping was ultimately aborted that weekend, but was carried out several weeks later without Yasin's involvement, where the victim was beaten, robbed, photographed in humiliating conditions and blackmailed, according to prosecutors. The pictures were then leaked on social media several weeks later when the victim refused to pay the blackmail sum requested. Most of the evidence in the case consists of chat messages on the encrypted messaging service Encrochat, according to the prosecution. The indictment is part of a broader case involving 30 suspects in a criminal network accused of a variety of crimes. po/jll/jz
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