Dubai: Two men have been acquitted of killing a Georgian woman and leaving her body in front of Dubai courts’ building in April 2016.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance cleared the two Emirati men of the accusation of smothering the Georgian woman and killing her.
The two men had pleaded not guilty and firmly refuted what they described by unfounded accusation when they defended themselves in court.
Dubai Police’s forensic examiner testified that when he inspected the victim’s body, he discovered that she had been suffocated and that her body had several bruises.
The woman’s body had no signs that she had defended herself when she was being suffocated because she had been under the influence of drugs, according to the examiner.
Moreover, the victim’s countrywoman friend testified that she and the victim had just returned home from a nightclub where they had been drinking liquor when one of the suspects called and asked to see them at 3am.
“The suspects took us to Al Mamzar where we walked on the beach. The suspects then drove us to a hospital and asked one of us to fetch a medicine from a doctor. We both refused. Then one of them went inside and came out with a prescription. Then they drove to a pharmacy, where one of them purchased the medicine. They made me take three pills and I felt dizzy and lost my consciousness. After a period, I regained consciousness partly while I was in the car … I heard sounds of fighting and someone shouting. I kept slipping in and out of consciousness. When I regained my consciousness, I saw the victim on the ground. When I inspected her body, she was making a strange noise. I thought she was having an asthma attack and I searched for her medicine inhaler, but didn’t find it. Suddenly, the police arrived on the scene and I learnt that she had died,” the friend said.
The suspects’ lawyer Saeed Al Gailani argued before the court that his client did not suffocate the victim.
“The prosecutors’ accusations were unsubstantiated and insufficient to charge them and send them for trial. Besides, witnesses’ statements were contradicting and inconsistent … and my clients had no reason to kill the victim. The case is based on groundless accusations and unsupported evidence,” contended Al Gailani.
Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi dismissed the prosecutors’ accusations and cleared the suspect of intentionally killing the Georgian woman.
Yesterday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.