25 Dubai prison wardens penalised for abusing power given bail

Dubai: Twenty-five jail wardens, including a former prison director, who were handed different jail terms for abusing authority and beating inmates, have appealed the initial ruling and were granted bail.

Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced seven of the jail wardens, including the prison's former director and his assistant, a lieutenant, to six months in jail each.

The remaining defendants were given three months in jail each.

The 25 accused have appealed their initial verdicts and were granted bail after their lawyers, including Khalifa Al Salman, Ali Musabbih Dahi, Samir Jaafar, and Nabih Badr, pleaded for bail.

Gulf News learnt on Monday that all the defendants appealed their rulings and pleaded for bail following the arrest of two of them, who are Omanis and were detained a few days ago on the Oman-UAE borders.

The 25 defendants are on bail now.

A date for hearing will be assigned soon for the Dubai Appeal's Court to look into the case.

The Public Prosecution had charged the wardens with abusing their authority.

Some of them were charged with beating an Armenian inmate, leaving him with a permanent 10 per cent spinal disability, besides injuring others.

Seven lawyers defended the wardens, arguing that they were searching for banned substances, such as drugs and sharp tools in the cells and they relied on the surprise factor and scared the prisoners while taking them out of their cells "to prevent them from disposing of any forbidden stuff".