Forensic expert questions evidence in Suzan Tamim murder case

Cairo: An Egyptian forensic medicine expert on Monday cast doubt over the criminal evidence collated by the authorities in Dubai following the murder of Lebanese pop singer Suzan Tamim almost two years ago.

 Ahmad Ebrahim, a professor of forensic medicine at the Government-run Ain Shams University, giving testimony at the Cairo Criminal Court in the high-profile case involving an Egyptian business tycoon,said that his doubts were based on "several shortcomings" in the way the clues were collected from the scene of Suzan's murder.
 

Suzan was found dead in her luxury apartment in Dubai in July 2008. Mohsen Al Sukari, an ex-Egyptian policeman, is accused of killing her upon orders from Hesham Talaat Moustafa, an ex-MP and one of Egypt's top real-estate developers.

The court also cross-examined a Pakistani technician from a Canadian company responsible for installing and operating surveillance cameras at Al Waha Hotel in Dubai where Mohsen stayed at the time of the murder. The technician told the court that the images captured allegedly of Mohsen in the wake of the murder on the cameras could not be tampered with.

Chief Judge of the court Adel Abdel Salam adjourned the trial hearings until Tuesday to cross-examine representatives of the same company in Egypt upon a request from the defence lawyers for the two defendants.

Mohsen is accused of receiving $2 million from Hesham to kill Suzan with whom the latter had a failed love affair. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

In May 2009, a Cairo criminal court sentenced Mohsen and Hesham to death for involvement in the slaying of Suzan. But last March, the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest judicial authority, overturned the ruling and ordered a retrial. The court cited lack of and faulty evidence. Since it came to surface in August 2008, the case has riveted attention across the Arab world because the co-defendant, Hesham, is an influential politician in President Hosni Mubarak's party.