HIV-Aids Dubai prisoners' plea for freedom

Ten HIV-Aids inmates at the Dubai Central Prison submit a petition asking for release on compassionate grounds.

DUBAI // Ten prisoners with HIV-Aids have asked to be freed on compassionate grounds.
The inmates, at the Dubai Central Prison, submitted a petition to the public prosecution yesterday.
It asks for them to be released so they can spend the rest of their lives with their families. The petition is addressed to Dubai's Attorney General, Essam Al Humaidan.
"It is our greatest wish that we may return to our families, who are unable to be in Dubai, so that we can share with them the time we are granted in happiness before our health fails," reads the letter.
The inmates are from Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kenya, UK, Pakistan and Nigeria. They were convicted of various offences, including financial crimes, drug possession, robbery and murder.
One of the inmates was previously on death row but the sentence was commuted to prison for an indefinite period after the family of the man he killed forgave him.
HIV-positive prisoners are kept in a separate ward at the Dubai Central Prison in Al Aweer and cannot mingle with other inmates.
"This country does not accept HIV patients. If you were free you would be deported if you were infected. It is a difficult stigma," said Michael Bryan Smith, a 43-year-old Briton who signed the petition. "Some guards are OK but others wear masks and rubber gloves when they handcuff us."
Mr Smith was convicted in a financial case after being extradited from Thailand. He found out he was HIV-positive while in prison.
He said some prisoners did not receive proper medical treatment.
"They do as well as they can but they sometimes cannot deliver the medicine on time," said Mr Smith, who claimed he suffered tuberculosis as a result of waiting.
Earlier this year a medical pardon was granted to a number of prisoners with HIV-Aids, a decision the 10 inmates hope will be repeated.
"We hope now you will consider our pleas as we all suffer the same incurable infection and, in most cases, have been imprisoned for a longer period of time than those released," the letter reads.
Mr Smith said: "We heard of the amnesty and thought we would be released as part of the pardon."
A prison official said: "The health of each prisoner plays an important role, but we do not know the exact criteria the pardons are based on. The public prosecution studies each case and takes a decision."
Police were not available for comment.
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