DUBAI // A prison guard sustained a permanent disability during an assault by four inmates, a court heard today.
The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard that the two Omani prisoners HA, 22, and SH, 37, as well as the Emirati inmate AA, 26, and the stateless AK, 44, assaulted the 24-year-old Emirati corporal AN on the morning of June 29 last year.
AN said he was at his desk in the internal security office when the four men approached him.
"They hit me on my face and then started kicking me all over my body," he said. The court heard the men also caused Dh14,800 worth of damage to AN's office. When AN fled to another office, a further two men appeared - another convict, 28-year-old RK, and a visitor identified as SA, 38. These two, both Omanis, were said to have told AN never to return to the prison or they would kill him.
No explanation for the defendants' alleged actions was given in court.
A medical report described AN's injuries as constituting a permanent 15 per cent disability.
AA was the only defendant present in court yesterday. He denied the charges.
The rest of the defendants will be summoned on April 9.
salamir@thenational.ae
UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Chirag Suri , Zahoor Khan
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
