Dubai: Nineteen members of two bootlegging gangs have lost their appeals and will spend different terms for indulging in group fight that resulted in one death and another person critically injured.
The 19 Chinese men, aged between 19 and 47, armed with swords, axes, knives and cleavers indulged in a group fight in an open parking lot at the Dubai International City’s China Cluster in March 2016.
An Egyptian manager, who lived in a flat adjacent to the place where the incident occurred, saw the two groups engaged in fighting and exchanging assaults with sharp tools. The manager recorded the incident on his smart phone.
In August, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed 16 of the 19 defendants for seven years each and three others for a year each.
Witnesses saw some of the suspects putting two seriously injured victims into a car and fleeing from the scene.
Prosecutors accused 16 defendants of assaulting a man with axes, knives, swords and killing him and critically injuring another man.
Three defendants were charged with indulging in the group fight and injuring four men from the other group [16 defendants].
The defendants appealed the primary judgements and asked the Appeal Court to overturn their sentences and acquit them.
Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm rejected the defendants’ appeals and upheld their sentences.
The defendants will be deported after serving their jail terms.
Two of defendants were charged of possessing liquor and bootlegging.
A police lieutenant said they were tipped off that some of the defendants had fled to Fujairah from Dubai.
“Dubai Police teams arrested the defendants after chasing them in a mountainous area. Other defendants were arrested from Al Warqa’a in Dubai. During questioning, the defendants admitted that they were involved in a group fight over bootlegging,” the police lieutenant said.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court.
