Worker acquitted in murder case

Dubai: A court on Tuesday acquitted a worker who had been convicted by another court in June of collaborating with 14 bootleggers to murder an Iranian.

The Dubai Appeals Court overturned a five-year jail term against the Indian worker, J.S., and pronounced him innocent.

"The court has cancelled the primary judgment [five years in jail] and acquitted the suspect," said Presiding Judge Mustafa Al Shennawi when he pronounced the appeal verdict yesterday in courtroom 20.

The three-judge panel acquitted the suspect due to lack of evidence.

The Dubai Court of First Instance had, in June, jailed J.S. for five years after convicting him of being an accomplice in the killing of the Iranian, H.M., in 2005.

According to records, the victim had blackmailed the gang of bootleggers as they were selling liquor.

Deportation cancelled

Presiding Judge Al Shennawi also cancelled the deportation order against J.S.

In 2006, 12 of the 14 defendants in the case were each jailed for five years while the other two defendants were each imprisoned for three years. Most of the 14 defendants have already served their sentences and have been deported.

Prosecution records said J.S. was referred to court soon after Dubai Police arrested him earlier this year.

The Public Prosecution charged the defendants, aged between 21 and 40, with using iron bars to batter H.M. to death.

A police officer testified earlier that the operations room was informed about an assault in Al Quoz Industrial Area.

The Iranian victim later died in Rashid Hospital of the "critical and severe injuries" he sustained during the assault.

The court heard that the victim and his Emirati friend, D.A., approached one of the suspects, K.S., as he was selling liquor. They blackmailed K.S. and demanded money and liquor from him. When K.S. refused to do their bidding, the duo turned their attention to another suspect, S.B., who also refused.

Police investigations revealed the duo used to blackmail their attackers frequently. In their statements during prosecution questioning, some of defendants confessed that they had plotted to get rid of the ‘blackmailers'.