Dubai: A father cried foul in court on Sunday as he remains in detention despite having been acquitted in September of exploiting his seven-year-old son’s disability to make him beg.
On September 24, the Dubai Court of First Instance cleared the Yemeni father of exploiting his son’s hearing and speech impediment and making him beg to make money after he smuggled him into the UAE. He was acquitted for lack of corroborated evidence.
“Prosecutors still do not believe and are not convinced that I did not exploit my son’s illness to beg. Despite having been acquitted by the primary court, prosecutors have not released me and they appealed the primary verdict… I am innocent,” the 37-year-old father told the Dubai Appeal Court on Sunday.
When asked by presiding judge Eisa Mohammad Sharif whether he exploited his son’s impairment for begging purposes, the father replied: “No. I cannot do so. He is my son… my own son. My own flesh and blood. He is my biological son. All the papers available in the case file prove that he is my son.”
The Yemeni father strongly denied committing a human trafficking crime by taking advantage of the boy’s impediment for financial benefits.
Records said law enforcement officers apprehended 37-year-old M.M. when he was spotted using the boy, whom he claims is his son, to beg in Abu Hail in September 2013.
When asked by presiding judge Sharif in courtroom 20 about his demands, the father said he has been kept and remains in custody although he was acquitted by the primary court in September.
“Sir, I beg you… this boy is my own son. I want to be released and rejoin my son. Have him and I released immediately. The UAE is the land of fairness, humanity and benevolence. The Emirati people are kind and compassionate. I just brought my son here and sought medical assistance for him,” contended M.M. in a sad voice.
“I want to go back home with my son and join my family,” concluded the father.
A police lieutenant claimed that the suspect and the boy were spotted asking pedestrians for money at 7.30pm.
A manager from the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children testified that the boy was admitted in October.
“Hospital check-ups confirmed that he has a speech impairment but can hear,” the manager said.
Records said the father provided prosecutors with papers to confirm that the seven-year-old boy was his son.
Meanwhile prosecution records said Dubai Police’s forensic laboratory confirmed that M.M. was not the boy’s biological father.
A ruling will be heard next week.
