UAE | Crime
Footballer in retrial over gun case
He was earlier charged with possessing an unlicensed pistol and threatening to shoot man.
- By Bassam Za'za' Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:04 November 24, 2008
Dubai: An Emirati footballer is standing a retrial for reportedly threatening and endangering the life of his compatriot with an unlicenced pistol after firing two bullets over the top of his head outside a pub.
The Dubai Court of First Instance earlier sentenced the 26-year-old footballer, S.A., to three years in jail in absentia. The footballer contested the ruling and he was granted a retrial before the same court.
In his first appearance during the retrial, S.A. pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir.
The Public Prosecution charged the footballer with using the allegedly unlicenced pistol and threatened to fire at 35-year-old Emirati government employee, A.J., if he didn't kneel down and kiss his (S.A.) friend's foot. The suspect was also charged with endangering A.J.'s life when he fired two random bullets in the air and unlawfully possessing the pistol.
During yesterday's hearing, the footballer's lawyer asked the judge to adjourn the case to hear the prosecution witnesses. The supposed victim testified that when he left the Jumeirah-based pub he heard the suspect involved in a heated argument with his (S.A.) friend and a Moroccan girl. A.J. claimed in his statement that he stepped in to stop the argument with good intention.
"The suspect yelled 'get out of my sight or I will hit you'... I walked towards him again to check why he spoke to me in that way. We got involved in a heated argument before the pub's security men intervened and stopped it. The trial continues.
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