Dubai: A court on Thursday disregarded a lawyer's request to hear Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's statement on the assassination of Sulim Yamadayev, who was gunned down in Dubai in March.
"We ask the Dubai Court of First Instance to summon the Chechen President and members of his delegation, who visited the UAE shortly before the incident. We want to hear their statements concerning particular information about the assassination," said lawyer Juma Al Bawardi, who is defending one of the suspects, 37-year-old Tajik businessman M.J.
At large
Yamadayev was a Chechen military leader who was gunned down in the parking lot of his Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) home in March. Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad, adjourned the case until January 7, saying the jury will then hear the statement of a policeman, who questioned the second suspect charged in the case, 37-year-old Iranian clerk, M.T.
Presiding Judge Abdul Jawad disregarded Al Bawardi's request (to hear the Chechen President's statement) and did not mention the matter.
During yesterday's hearing, an Emirati lieutenant and a policeman, who both interrogated the Iranian and Tajik suspects, testified in courtroom four.
Advocate Al Bawardi asked the lieutenant whether Dubai Police had informed the Chechen President that one of his delegation members had left behind his gun to be used in the murder.
"The court refuses to address this question to the witness [the lieutenant]," said the judge.
The Iranian and Tajik suspects have denied the charge of collaborating in the premeditated murder of Yamadayev and refuted the charge of aiding and abetting the alleged killers. Prosecutors have identified four suspects who are still at large.
The lieutenant, who questioned M.J., testified in court: "He admitted to me that his role was to watch the victim and he did so for one week. Then he drove some of the suspects to JBR for more observation. He claimed then that the suspects informed the shooter about the victim's house. M.J. added that he drove one of the suspects to a flat in Muraggabat. Fifteen minutes later, they phoned and asked him to return to the flat where all the suspects were present. The Tajik claimed to me that the shooter stayed at his house in Ras Al Khaimah until he drove him to the airport to travel. He admitted that he did so for money which he never collected."
The jury also refused to address another question to the lieutenant on whether the assassination was carried out based on the orders of the Chechen government.
Meanwhile the policeman said before the judge that his role in the case was to translate M.T.'s questioning.
"M.T. admitted that he drove a suspect identified as ‘Adam,' and another Chechen person, to the airport where they waited nearly 45 minutes… they took mobile phone snapshots for Yamadayev and his family when they came out of the airport. He alleged that Adam gave him the bag which contained the pistol… he said he hid the bag in [a] Kazakh person's villa in Emirates Hills until he handed it a group of men which were watching the scene in JBR. He alleged that he was unaware of the time of the murder," testified the policeman.
The witness added: "The Iranian alleged during questioning that ‘Adam' told him they wanted to kill Yamadayev because of hatred."
The trial continues.