Dubai: Fourteen years on, advocate Abdul Rahman Al Mudharreb finds himself assigned to defend what prosecutors described as a "gruesome rape and murder case" which has attracted public and media attention.

In 1996, Al Mudharreb defended Khalid Al Moussagy who abducted, raped and murdered Amina, a seven-year-old Emirati schoolgirl. Al Mousaggy was sentenced to death and executed in 1996.

In February 2010, Al Mudharreb was assigned by the Dubai Appeals Court to handle a similar rape and murder case which influenced public opinion and has been branded by the media as the "Eid Al Adha boy rape-murder case."

The Appeals Court and Dubai Public Prosecution assigned Al Mudharreb, a top Emirati lawyer, to defend 30-year-old Emirati suspect R.R., who is on death row for raping and killing a four-year-old Pakistani boy.

In January, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted R.R. of raping and killing four-year-old Mousa in a mosque's washroom in Al Qusais on Eid Al Adha last year.

Coincidence

"I believe this is an ordinary coincidence. The court and public prosecution assigned me to defend Moussagy in 1996 ... and today I have been assigned to handle a case of similar nature. I have agreed to defend R.R. because it's my duty as a lawyer to help in the implementation of law. The rule of law is what applies in the UAE and we have to help in serving justice," Al Mudharreb told Gulf News.

His son, lawyer Abdullah Al Mudharreb, who represented R.R. in yesterday's hearing, asked Presiding Judge Eisa Al Sharif for adjournment to present his pleading.

Dressed in his red and white striped prison outfit, RR was escorted to courtroom 20 by eight jail wardens. With his long white and black beard which has grown since he was first spotted in court, R.R. sat silently looking in astonishment from behind the dock. His lips were muttering something under his thick beard. "The court reconvenes on March 7 for the defence to present their pleadings and demands," said the judge.

Thereafter, the defendant was walked out of the courtroom directly to the underground detention cells before being taken to Dubai Central Prison.

Abdullah Al Mudharreb told a fleet of journalists outside the courtroom: "Today we asked the judge for an adjournment to submit our defence. Our main aim is to loosen the intense impact of the media coverage on the public so as not to handle the matter in an emotional manner. There is a golden rule that says ‘Justice is above all emotional and humanitarian issues'. We have been assigned by the court and prosecutors to defend the suspect, and that's what we will do. Next hearing we will ask the jury to summon prosecution witnesses to discuss their statements."

Abdullah Al Mudharreb further explained that they will present what he described as "surprising pleadings" which were not tackled or discussed before the Court of First Instance.