Dubai: Three men won their appeals after a court cleared them of attacking two friends with swords and knives and chopped off four fingers of one of them.

The friends, an Emirati and an Indian, were looking for a place to dine when three Vietnamese men lured them to have a massage in a flat at Dubai International City in January.

When the friends realised that they had been lured to a brothel to have sex, one of them told the Vietnamese trio that prostitution is banned in the UAE and that he would be calling the police.

The Emirati said when they entered the flat, the men came with four women who turned out to be prostitutes and told them they could have sex with the women.

Three of the men jumped out of the window of the first-storey flat and absconded.

The friends left the flat and went down, before they spotted a group of 10 to 12 men running towards them armed with swords and knives.

The two friends ran to their car before the Indian lost balance and fell to the ground.

The Vietnamese trio stabbed him and caused him severe injuries. When the Emirati man tried to help his friend, he was attacked as well.

In March, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the trio to two years in jail each over bid to kill the Indian, assaulting him and causing him permanent disability.

The Vietnamese trio appealed the judgement before the Appeal Court and asked to be acquitted. The trio pleaded not guilty and denied being involved in the murder bid and assault.

Citing lack of corroborated evidence, presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif acquitted the Vietnamese men. According to the appellate ruling, the trio’s deportation order was also cancelled.

Records said an unidentified number of Vietnamese men [most of whom remain at large] formed a gang and attacked the Emirati and the Indian.

The Emirati sustained a 10 per cent permanent disability and the Indian sustained a 25 per cent permanent disability after he lost four fingers.

The Emirati said when he told them that prostitution is prohibited in the UAE and that he will call the police, three men present in the flat jumped out of the window.

“When we went down, a group of men attacked us with sharp tools. They stabbed my friend when he fell down … he had four of his fingers chopped off. I tried to save him … but I defended myself against stabs with one arm and used the other arm to pull my friend away. They attacked me on the head and back …,” he said.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 27 days.