Dubai: Dubai's highest court has rejected a prosecution appeal for stiff punishment for an Algerian suspect, who was earlier convicted of fatally assaulting 60-year-old man with a knife.
The Dubai Court of Cassation on Monday rejected Dubai Public Prosecution's appeal to cancel a two-year imprisonment against the 20-year-old Algerian defendant, R.A., and stiffen his punishment.
The Court of Appeal and First Instance had earlier modified the convict's premeditated murder charge to assault leading to death of the Arab victim.
The Cassation Court on Monday upheld the two-year jail sentence after the jury found him guilty of assault which led to death.
R.A. earlier pleaded not guilty and denied murdering the Arab national with a kitchen knife.
"I am not guilty ... I didn't kill or intend to kill him. It was an ordinary fight," R.A. argued when he defended himself before the Courts of Appeal and First Instance.
R.A. was deported after having completed his jail term. Records said a policeman impersonated the victim, who later died, by using his mobile phone to call the convict and lure him to a hospital.
The policeman testified that the Algerian apologised over the phone, and the policeman pretending to be the victim, asked him to come and visit him at the hospital. Medical reports confirmed the victim died of his injuries 30 days after being stabbed.
A 29-year-old Egyptian security guard testified that he saw the deceased running in the street. "The defendant, who was running behind the victim, saw a group of men and instantly retreated to his white car and drove off," added the witness.
An Emirati second lieutenant, who questioned R.A., testified: "He claimed that he became outraged and stabbed the victim who had been asking him for money to fix his vehicle."
