Dubai: A court on Sunday confirmed seven-year imprisonment for an Emirati prisoner accused of arson. This is his third indictment for arson and his total prison term amounts to 39 years.
He will have to serve seven years for arson in Dubai Central Prison in October 2009 [the verdict remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court in 30 days], seven years for a second arson case in Dubai Central Prison in September 2009 and a life sentence [25 years] for arson in Bur Dubai Police Station in 2001.
Sentence
In the latest instance, the Dubai Appeals Court on Sunday confirmed the primary sentence [seven years in jail] after Presiding Judge Eisa Al Sharif found the 30-year-old Emirati inmate, S.B., guilty of deliberately setting his blanket on fire in his cell in Dubai Central Prison in October 2009.
"The court has approved the primary sentence. The accused will have to pay for repairs and the damages," said Presiding Judge Al Sharif in courtroom 20.
When S.B. appeared in court, he confessed to his charges and admitted before the courts of First Instance and Appeal that he deliberately started the fire and damaged public property [a blanket worth Dh55].
An Egyptian psychiatrist who examined the defendant told prosecutors: "The suspect is sane and does not suffer from any mental or stress-related disease. He is also responsible for his actions."
