UAE | Crime
Court of Misdemeanour adjourns zirconium case till later this month
The Court of Misdemeanor on Thursday looked into the hearing of the zirconium case.
- By Bassam Za'za, Senior Reporter
- Published: 14:04 March 13, 2008
Dubai: The merchant whose attempt to exchange and import about 240kilograms of zirconium (a material used to fill nuclear fuel tanks) was foiled earlier, defended himself and pleaded innocent in court on Wednesday.
The Public Prosecution charged the 48-year-old Jordanian suspect, A.A.A., with violating a treaty which forbids importing equipments, substances or machines used in manufacturing explosives without obtaining a proper permission from the concerned authorities.
The defendant failed to hire a lawyer and presented his own defence to the Dubai Court of Misdemeanour on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty.
One of the law enforcement officers, who arrested the suspect in a sting operation, said in his statement that an informant alerted the concerned authorities that the suspect had the zirconium hidden in special warehouses in Jabal Ali and Al Qoz areas.
The officer claimed that A.A. was ‘secretly' looking for specified customers from a specific nationality and who might have been interested in buying the ‘forbidden substances'.
“The zirconium is used to fill nuclear fuel tanks. Preliminary interrogations revealed that the suspect was using four different mobile phones and he would only sell the material in a public transportation vehicle. The informant posed as a client when he contacted the suspect and claimed to be from that specific nationality. The suspect handed the informant a 25-cm bar of that substance… and the suspect was arrested on November 21 in a sting operation,'' the officer claimed in his statement to the Public Prosecution.
During Thursday's 8.30-am hearing, the defendant handed Presiding Judge Hamdi Mustafa Abu El Khair his defence sheet.
Judge Abu El Khair adjourned the case until later this month after the public prosecution representative asked for postponement to submit the prosecution plea. The judge also extended the suspect's detention.
During his first court appearance before the Misdemeanour Court on March 6, the Jordanian denied his charges and pleaded innocent. He told the court that he was unaware that the seized substance is prohibited.
Esam Eisa Al Humaidan, Dubai's Attorney General, said the National Security Department of Dubai Police foiled the attempt to exchange and export zirconium, a metal used in the nuclear power industry. The metal was to be imported for agents in the UAE with the purpose of re-exporting it.
Al Humaidan told Gulf News earlier this is believed to be one of the very few cases of its kind, if not the first ever. "We have conducted thorough investigation in the case, to guarantee the complete and accurate implementation of the law," he said.
In a WAM statement, Al Humaidan said thwarting this deal is a testimony to the tremendous efforts exerted by the UAE to keep the region free from weapons of mass destruction, and to preserve the reputation of the UAE as an international trade platform.
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