Three men face attempted murder charges in Höfðatorg case

Three men are charged with attempted murder over an attack in a car park beneath Höfðatorg on March 17, mbl.is reports. The main hearing in the case began at Reykjavík District Court on Tuesday.

The defendants are Kareem M. M. Abufarhah, Qossay Ali Yahya Alsadi and Mohamed Sayidali Ahmed. According to the indictment, they allegedly acted together in attempting to kill a man.

Two of the men appeared in court, while Qossay attended through a remote connection. Interpreters were present in the courtroom, including an Arabic interpreter for two of the defendants and an English interpreter requested by one of them.

The indictment says Kareem drove a vehicle at high speed into the victim, throwing him onto the bonnet before he fell to the ground. Qossay is accused of repeatedly striking him in the body with an unidentified object, after which Mohamed allegedly stabbed him in the left buttock with a stabbing weapon.

The victim suffered serious injuries, including contusions to both lungs, a fractured upper arm and circulatory shock. A medical report in the case says he arrived at the emergency department in life-threatening shock and would have died without the treatment he received at the scene and at the hospital.

The case attracted considerable attention when the investigation began in March. Between 20 and 30 people were reportedly in the car park when the confrontation broke out, and part of the incident was captured on surveillance footage.

Two defendants deny charges

The case was formally brought before Reykjavík District Court in June. Kareem and Mohamed appeared then and both denied the charges. Qossay did not attend; his defence lawyer said he was in Jordan and that contact with him was intermittent.

The victim is seeking 10 million Icelandic krónur in compensation for non-pecuniary damage from the defendants, as well as nearly 100,000 krónur in compensation for financial losses and legal costs.