DUBAI // The acquittal of 23 inmates who were accused of taking part in the murder of a fellow inmate two years ago was upheld by Dubai Court of Cassation on Monday.
A total of 18 of the inmates were acquitted from a premeditated murder charge related to 42-year-old Emirati prisoner Ayyoub Abdul Rida, known as Rida the Burned, on the second day of Eid Al Fitr in 2012 at Dubai Central Prison.
The slaying was said to be an act of revenge because, in a previous altercation, Rida had chopped off the finger of fellow Emirati RA, 31, though no one is now be prosecuted over his death.
The other five inmates, ZS, 27, from Georgia, PK, 32, from Uzbekistan, SE, 29, and JP, 40, both Russian, and EM, 31, from Kyrgistan, who are from the gang headed by Rida, were acquitted from charges of attempting to kill a man identified as RM because of a previous fight he had with Rida over who is in charge inside prison.
Previously, Dubai Criminal Court, in a hearing guarded by riot control, acquitted all the defendants. The Appeal Court then upheld the acquittal and the prosecution took the case to the Cassation seeking a conviction, but lost when the court also upheld the acquittals.
According to the Appeal Court verdict, the CCTV recordings of the fight provided failed to show the features of those who participated in the killing and it also said that it was impossible for police, prosecution and forensic experts to confidently specify the exact attackers or the exact number of those who actually killed Rida.
The prosecution argument said that the 18 inmates who killed Rida used sharp tools and a sharpened wooden stick to attack him.
The incident happened on August 20, 2012, at about 5pm. A fight erupted between the deceased and some of the men, after which they returned to their cells, prepared their weapons and decided to kill him, prosecutors said.
The court was told that the 18 went to ward D where Rida was.
Out of the 18 defendants charged with premeditated murder, Emiratis RM, 35, MM, 28, AG, 30, and RA, 31, who lost a finger to Rida, dragged the inmate from his cell and started beating and stabbing him, said prosecutors.
RM was said to have stabbed his victim in the abdomen and chest before he chopped off a part of his finger. MM stabbed the victim in his head and neck. AG and RA stabbed the man in several parts of his body before RA chopped a big part of Rida’s ear.
The remaining 14 defendants joined the four killers by kicking and beating the man all over his body. Prosecutors said that the victim was left with 37 stab wounds that ended his life almost immediately. Seven defendants from the 18 faced a separate charge of assaulting the deceased’s friend inside prison but where also acquitted.
They also faced, along with the deceased, charges of assaulting five prison inmates from the rival gang and were acquitted as well.
Rida, who had served six months of a three-year-sentence on an assault charge, had previous convictions for arson, setting fire to himself, hence his nickname, and to a police station.
A police corporal who lost his job after the prison fight, testified that he was in charge of opening the gate leading to wards A, B, C and D, where the deceased was held in a solitary confinement. He said that about 40 inmates from other wards ran through the gate when he opened it for one Indian inmate returning from a visit.
“When a police officer tried to stop them, they threatened to beat him up,” said the corporal.
A police captain testified that he received a call informing him of the murder. “The ambulance arrived but Ayyoub Abdul Rida was bleeding from every part of his body and then I knew he died in the ambulance on the way to Rashid Hospital,” said the captain.
He added that the defendants who killed Rida had been planning for more than two weeks to carry out the murder.
Records said that riot police was called to control the inmates’ fight.
Another witness said that a number of the defendants formed a circle during the attack to protect those who were stabbing the victim.
Lieutenant JA, 43, testified that he saw the victim before he was taken in the ambulance. “He had deep cuts in his face, and all over his body” he said.
salamir@thenational.ae
