ABU DHABI // Relatives of an Omani who was murdered on a hunting trip took a Sharia oath on Monday to prove they believed the defendant was guilty.
At the Appeals Court, the father of the victim repeated the Qasama oath 25 times, saying: “Allah is He, than Whom there is no other God, who knows [all things] both secret and open. The first defendant has shot my son on purpose and he died due to the shot.”
Then the brother of the victim took the oath 10 times and the second brother 15 times, reaching the required total of 50 recitations for the oath to be admitted as evidence.
Their lawyer insisted that the court upholds the death sentence issued by the Criminal Court.
The lawyer representing a second victim, who suffered injuries in the attack, said he had filed for compensation and was waiting for the courts’ verdict to proceed with compensation claims.
He asked for an adjournment to prepare his defence, so the court adjourned it to September 16.
The Qasama oath is a way of adjudicating on first-degree murder charges when there is no irrefutable evidence that the defendant had committed the crime.
During Qasama, the victim’s heirs also have the choice of reverting it back to the defendants, making them take the oath 50 times that they did not commit the crime.
If both the heirs and the defendants decline Qasama, the case is dropped.
The victim’s heirs were summoned to the court to take the oath to confirm that the two men, Emirati cousins N D and M D, killed the Omani and that the men should carry the responsibility of his death until judgment day.
In an earlier hearing, the lawyer of the victim’s family objected to the oath, saying the court had enough evidence to convict the men.
The chief justice said that if they were convinced that one of the two defendants was the murderer, they must take the oath.
He said that if they were unsure, then the oath would be referred to the defendants.
The judge then asked the two defendants if they were willing to take the oath. One of them agreed, while the other refused to answer and remained silent.
He said the case was a farce and there was no reason for him to take oath.
The victim was killed on a hunting trip in the Omani desert in January last year. The defendants were driving their Land Cruiser to a remote part of the desert when the Omanis began to chase them in a Hilux.
Those in the Hilux threw rocks at the Land Cruiser and one of them fired a pistol in the air.
The Emirati cousins fired back, hitting the victim in the head and killing him instantly. The Omanis denied they had a gun but admitted to pelting the Land Cruiser with rocks.
hdajani@thenational.ae
