HIV positive prisoner pleads for his freedom

The family of a prisoner, who contracted HIV while in jail, is pleading with the authorities to allow him to spend the rest of his life at home with them.

A.H., a 30-year-old UAE national, who has two wives and five children three girls and two boys was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on October 31, 2000 for drug offences.

"I became HIV positive about a year ago while injecting myself with drugs that were smuggled into jail. I also have hepatitis C. I regret what I did, but there's no use in being sorry now," he told Gulf News.

A.H. is in the isolation ward at Dubai Central Jail. "There are about 50 HIV patients with me in the isolation ward. Some of us got the virus inside the prison," he said.

If an inmate memorises parts of the holy Quran and behaves well, he can receive a pardon or have his sentence reduced to half.

"I have spent five years and two months in jail and I have also memorised parts of the holy Quran. According to the rule, I deserve the pardon. However, they are not releasing me because they say I might spread the condition to others."

He said he called his family and told them about his condition.

"I didn't wait for the jail authorities or other people to tell my family. I regret what happened, and I want to spend my last few years with my family, not in the jail. The financial condition of my family is not good, and by being with them I can help."

He said he is taking medicines, and continues to memorise the holy Quran.

Umm Marwan, his 24-year-old second wife and mother of two children, said: "We are not scared of my husband's condition. He called us and told us that he contracted the virus while in jail when he was injecting drugs. We want him back home. His children miss him."

Umm Marwan says she lives in a one-bedroom house with her husband's first wife. "We live on social security aid. We have no source of income. Our financial situation is bad."

The eldest son is 12 and all the other children are very young. "We see him once a month. During the last visit they told us that we could visit him every two months.

"I went to the Public Prosecution many times and pleaded with them to release my husband. They asked his first wife and me to sign an undertaking saying we know our husband has HIV and we are aware of the risk."

A source from Dubai Central Jail told Gulf News A.H.'s name had been placed on the list of those who deserve a pardon, but the public prosecution office had refused the request because he is HIV positive.

"We did our best to help him and I am quite sure he will be released in the next two years. We have a large number of HIV patients in jail. They number about 60 and we keep them in isolation. We are very strict about this as we have to consider the welfare of the other inmates," he said.

These patients, he said, were receiving proper treatment in jail.

A senior official from the Dubai Public Prosecution told Gulf News: "It is not true that we are refusing his request for a pardon because he is HIV positive. The Central Jail is not a hospital where we keep HIV positive patients

"This person is serving a ten-year jail term until year 2010 in a drugs case. However, because he has memorised five parts of the holy Quran the jail authority has reduced his imprisonment by one year.

"Now the Minister of Interior has the authority to reduce one fourth of the imprisonment under the condition A.H. pays a Dh50,000 fine."

He said A.H. did not fulfil all the criteria to get the pardon. "Moreover, A.H. has never been on the list of the Central Jail mentioning those who deserve a pardon."