In February, senior Comanchero bikie Tarek Zahed and his brother will stand trial for the 2014 murder of a man in Sydney’s west after entering a not-guilty plea.
Zahed, 43, and Abdul Kahir Zahed, 38, were formally charged with kidnapping in company on Friday at the NSW Supreme Court. They also entered a not guilty plea.
The accusations concern the alleged murder of 29-year-old Youssef Assoum, who passed away in the hospital in December 2014 after being shot and stabbed in the thigh in Bankstown.
In connection with the alleged murder, a third guy has also been charged.
The brothers, who appeared by audio-visual link from prison on Friday, will face a joint six-week trial, though the schedule might be changed awaiting a request from the defense.
Any application by Tarek Zahed for a separate trial must be submitted and served by September 29 per Justice Helen Wilson’s direction.
Tarek Zahed shouted during the court about having trouble reaching his daughter and mother from the Goulburn supermax jail, where he was being housed, and the judge was obliged to mute his video link. The brothers’ trial was scheduled by Wilson for February 5, 2024.
Tarek Zahed, who police claim is a senior Comanchero, allegedly survived a shooting in May 2022 that killed his brother Omar, 39, just a few months before his arrest for the claimed murder.
