UAE Royal cleared of torture charges

[Moses Mashomba]

BBC News - UAE sheikh cleared in videoed torture case (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8450722.stm)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45765000/jpg/_45765329_uaetorturesheilkhafp226b.jpg
UAE sheikh cleared in videoed torture case

A member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates has been cleared of the torture of a business associate.

Lawyers for Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the president's brother, said the court ruled he had been drugged and so was "unaware of his actions".

The incident came to light when a videotape was circulated showing the violent beating, said to have taken place in 2004. It was the first reported investigation of a UAE ruling family member.

Lawyer Habib al-Mulla said the court had established that Sheikh Issa was "not responsible" for the torture of Mohammed Shah Poor.
"The court accepted our defence that the sheikh was under the influence of drugs that left him unaware of his actions," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
The defence had previously claimed Sheikk Issa had been drugged by two men who then then recorded the beating in order to blackmail him.

'Equality sign'

The video, circulated last year, shows Sheikh Issa repeatedly beating Mr Poor, a grain merchant of Afghan origin, and running him over with a car.Several other men assist in the tape, including one in a uniform of the security forces.

The incident came to light after US television network ABC broadcast clips of the tape, which was smuggled out of the UAE by a former business associate of Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Reports say the merchant had lost a consignment of grain belonging to Sheikh Issa worth $5,000 (£3,300). He survived the abuse, but needed extensive hospital treatment.

Mr al-Mulla said the fact the trial had taken place was "a sign that the UAE is showing that everyone in this country can be put in front of law and judged".

The UAE is a federation of seven wealthy emirates with substantial oil reserves and a large expatriate population. Each emirate is run by a ruling family and citizens are granted few political rights.

[Gulfstreamaviator]

Legal or Illegal drugs, on the mult page of illega drugs in the UAE...Just asking.

Would those also at the scene be guilty by association...Just asking.

glf

[Mike.Park]

The video footage in question broadcast on ABC news.

YouTube - A UAE (Emirati) Royal Family Member, Sheikh Issa, Tortures a Person (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aO4BmaqUgM)

[I Love Midex]

Just saw on CNN that all of the other defendants in the case were found guilty. Magically, the sheikh was not.

[Duh]

Never have I found, seen nor heard a "Tribe" of people that can lie so well so much as to not even think twice about it. It's in their DNA !

[Dubaian]

It's only taken them 6 years to come up with this tale from Arabian Nights.

[bherald]

The basic rules in the State of Lawlessness (SL):

Guilty until proven guilty..for the poor and those with no Wasta, nor power.:ugh:

Innocent until proven innocent..for the rich and those with Wasta and power.:ok:

Viva UAE:D

[exeng]

From CNN they report that the accused was taking drugs to help with nicotine withdrawl symptoms and that this affected him to such an extent that he was not responsible for his actions. Also his lawyer claims that the video footage may have been tampered with.

Thats OK then.

Shocking!!


Regards
Exeng

[Yo767]

Imagine the opposite for a second. An afghan trader beat up a sheikh and run him over with his camel after taking his anti-smoking drugs. All on video. Sentence anyone?

[ODMEA]

Just to add Lebanon and Tunisa scored highest in the region above Jordan.

[White Knight]

ODMEA - there was me thinking Tunisia was in the Maghreb region of Africa and now it's in the Gulf:}

Well ,the moral of this story is don't lose 3 tonnes of grain if it belongs to some high up ANIMAL..... And I don't mean the camel:ugh:

[Dubaian]

Ah thanks for that Laker - that explains why the USA are seeking a review of the court's decisions. Couple of their own involved.

But they were sentenced in absentia - they're not (yet) banged up.

[lpokijuhyt]

From CNN they report that the accused was taking drugs to help with nicotine withdrawl symptoms and that this affected him to such an extent that he was not responsible for his actions.

Cool! Maybe Nicorette can use this footage in one of their ad campaigns?

[Tower Ranger]

Maybe instead claiming it helps kicking the habit they could say it helps to kick the Habibi!

[parabellum]

Like most Lebanese who hold two passports, they will always be "in absentia".

[Silky]

As no one else has raised the subject.... open to the floor

The US has called on the United Arab Emirates to review a court ruling which acquitted a member of its ruling family of torture charges.

The court found Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan not guilty of abusing an Afghan man - apparently on grounds of diminished responsibility.

A US state department official said questions had been raised and the US would welcome a careful review.

US TV broadcast a video last year of the Afghan man being violently beaten.

The tape showed Sheikh Issa apparently torturing the man, named as Mohamed Shapoor, in the desert at night, beating him, letting off rifle rounds close to him, and driving over him with a car.

The sheikh, who is the half-brother of the UAE's president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, was acquitted on Sunday while five other defendants were found guilty.

The case marks the first reported investigation of a UAE ruling family member.

Five convicted

PJ Crowley, a spokesman for the US state department, said all members of Emirati society "must stand equal before the law".
"We remain concerned for the victims of this horrible crime," he said.

"We'd welcome a careful review of this decision... to ensure that the demands of justice are fully met in this case."

The judge delivering the verdict in the trial did not explain the reasons for the acquittal.

However, Sheikh Issa's defence said its plea of "diminished liability" had been accepted, Reuters news agency reports.

The defence had argued that the sheikh had been drugged by two American-Lebanese brothers, Ghassan and Bassam Nabulsi, who recorded the beating in order to blackmail him.
The Nabulsi brothers were sentenced in their absence to five years in prison for drugging Sheikh Hassan and attempting to blackmail him with the video. They were also fined 10,000 dirham ($2,723, £1,700).

Three other men were sentenced to between one and three years for their role in the torture.

The incident came to light after US television network ABC broadcast clips of the tape, which was smuggled out of the UAE by a former business associate of Sheikh Issa.

Reports say the merchant had lost a consignment of grain belonging to Sheikh Issa worth $5,000 (£3,300). He survived the abuse, but needed extensive hospital treatment.

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates and large expatriate populations. Each emirate is run by a ruling family and citizens are granted few political rights.

Source is
BBC News - US concern after UAE acquits sheikh in torture case (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8453280.stm)
:=

[fractional]

The only thing I feel sorry for is Mohamed Shapoor, who suffered so much for $5,000 alleged loss of the Sheikh.
If the judge wouldn't acquit the Sheikh, the former would be the next one to be shipped to the desert for "treatment".

[Guru8904]

The drugs alleged to have been given to the sheikh (and his post drug usage behavior is worth watching) have been confirmed to cause absent mindedness and no control over one's actions according to a report on the effects of the drugs provided by one of the local hospitals and presented to the court by the sheikh's lawyer.
Under the circumstances, it would be a wise idea to suggest administering the same drugs to the defendant, Mohammad Shapoor, tie the sheikh's feet and also his hands behind his back and leave them together for a while for the rest of the world to see if different drugs have varying effects on people from different strata of society.
Just my humble suggestion. You are welcome to add any brighter ideas to further the cause of justice.

[FrankAbagnale]

I think the JUDGE was on that drug while making this decision:}

[Wiley]

Can't agree with you, Frank.

The judge showed excellent and well-reasoned judgement - for a man who wanted to keep his job.

[High 6]

So what's more dangerous?? The much advertised effects of too much smoking or the side effects of the drugs that help one stop smoking? The tobacco companies would get some mileage out of this one.

This whole joke.. the filmed event followed by the fiasco of the justice system are very much in line with the norm in the sandpit, so no surprises there. :ugh:

Just think of all the stuff going on behind closed palace doors that the world will never hear about?

[ironbutt57]

The most dangerous it to step off a curb
and get hit by a bus

[bherald]

Although this has been a typical case where truth has been the No.1 victim, but it does not take a lot of intelligence to see the pathetic defence case as well as the response (verdict) from the judge. So, much of the truth is known to the people including the judge himself. The official position is something else, especially for those under the mercy of the ruling/defendant family!!:ugh: This is what happens when the law is in the hands of the criminal.:ugh::ugh: