Executions in murder cases stayed in UAE

Dubai: President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has ordered a stay on all executions to give authorities the chance to contact the victims’ blood parents, Gulf News has learnt.

The order was confirmed by two officials who explained the order involves those on the death row for murder. “What the order is trying to do is to settle such cases with the blood parents of the victims,” a top official told Gulf News, adding that the order doesn’t include such cases of terrorism, rape and drugs.

There are dozens of inmates on death row in the UAE, who may benefit from the order on the condition authorities are able to contact the victims’ blood parents.

In one such case, three Bangladeshis convicted in Sharjah of murdering an Indian expatriate, have so far been given a stay of execution. The authorities have been trying to contact the victim’s blood parents before the sentence can be carried out.

One official said that a committee has been formed by the Presidential Affairs Ministry to contact the blood parents of the victims in order to settle the various cases.

“It is a compassionate gesture by the President to settle those cases and at the same time ensure justice is served” according to Islamic Sharia rules and the values of UAE society.