Dubai: Two women convicts have obtained a waiver from the family of a woman they killed in 1998 when they worked for her as prostitutes and are seeking a pardon for a fourth time since 2013.

The two convicts, an Uzbek and a Kazakh, have been serving life sentences in Dubai Central Jail for killing a Russian woman who ran a brothel, after dousing her body with benzene and burning it beyond recognition in June 1998.

On Sunday, the women appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance seeking a pardon after having lodged their fourth petition for an early release after having spent 18 years and 11 months of their life imprisonments.

Sunday’s petition marks the fourth of its kind following three others that were rejected by the Court of First Instance in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

What makes the fourth petition different from the preceding ones, according to records, is that the Uzbek and Kazakh convicts have obtained a waiver from the blood parents of the Russian women they had killed 19 years ago.

The petitioners’ lawyers told presiding judge Mohammad Jamal that their clients are seeking an early release after having spent nearly 19 years behind jail bars.

“The court reconvenes on June 11 for the petitioners to present the original waiver that they had obtained from the victim’s blood parents,” said presiding judge Jamal.

In their fourth pleas, the convicts mentioned in their written petitions that they had spent more than 18 years behind bars and that they had repented and their behaviour has changed completely.

As per Article 45 of Law No 43 of 1992 on Regulating Punitive and Reformative Establishments, the petitioners lodged their pleas before the court seeking an early release after completing more than 18 years of their jail term.

As per the Criminal Procedures Law, the convicts waited for more than a year to pass [since their third petition got rejected in March 2016] before lodging their fourth plea earlier this year.

Upon referring the petitions to court, Dubai prosecutors recommended the bench of judges to approve the convicts’ plea and grant them an early release.

Court records said the two convicts and a Jordanian man ganged up against the victim while she slept in her bedroom and attacked her with kitchen knives. When they realised she was still breathing, the Jordanian suffocated her with a pillow and they continued stabbing her. The trio wrapped the victim’s body in a blanket and put the corpse in a big plastic bag which they kept on top of the building.

Later they took her body to Ajman and kept it in a deserted villa.

They purchased benzene from a nearby petrol station, doused the victim’s body and burnt it before they returned to the flat in Dubai and drank liquor.

They also stole her money and belongings.