Dubai: A murder convict will remain in prison serving a life sentence after a court rejected his plea for an early release although he had claimed he needed to rescue his parents from war-torn Aleppo.

In 2005, the Dubai Cassation Court confirmed a life sentence of the Syrian convict for committing a premeditated murder and hiding the victim’s body in 2004.

Having served more than 12 years of his life imprisonment, the convict lodged a special plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance and sought an early release on the grounds of good conduct and having memorised the Quran in full while serving his jail term in Dubai Central Jail.

When asked about the reason for which he was imprisoned, the petitioner told the presiding judge: “I was jailed over a premeditated murder. I was sentenced to life. I am seeking clemency and an early release. My father and mother are stuck in Aleppo and I am their only hope to evacuate them from there. That is why I’ve lodged this petition to be excused from serving the remaining prison term. I am a certified Quran tutor in the prison. The Dubai International Holy Quran Award’s higher committee granted me a certificate and I have been teaching other inmates to recite the Quran,” the convict told the court.

The petitioner’s plea was rejected by the court’s three-judge bench and he has the right to file another plea a year from now.

Records showed the murder happened in April 2004 and the Syrian defendant was apprehended in May the same year.

The accused was later referred to the Dubai Court of First Instance that convicted him of premeditated murder and disposing of the victim’s body.

Later, during the same year, the courts of Appeal and Cassation upheld the life term.

In the plea for early release, the convict said he is his parents’ only hope to help them out of what he described as “their desperate situation”.

The defendant said he completed more than 12 years behind bars during which he had served his punishment without violating the jail’s rules and regulations and had a “violation-free and clean record” since 2004.

The petitioner provided the court with a letter issued from the jail’s management confirming that he showed serious interest in correcting himself by memorising the Quran completely and teaching it to other inmates.

The convict lodged his petition based on Article 1/45 of the Federal Law No. 43 of 1992, concerning regulating punitive and correctional establishments.