Abu Dhabi court upholds death sentence for one of three brothers convicted of killing Omanis

A second brother had his death sentence reduced to 11 years in jail, while a third brother was found not guilty of the murders.

ABU DHABI // The Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for one of three Emirati brothers convicted of killing two Omanis as part of a blood feud.

A second brother had his death sentence reduced to 11 years in jail, while the third was found not guilty.

The Criminal Court had previously found all the brothers guilty and sentenced them to death.

After almost a year, the appeals court only upheld H A’s death sentence for killing the Omanis M, 31, and O, 43. The second brother, M A, was sentenced to 10 years for killing the first victim, but was cleared of possessing dangerous weapons and missiles.

The appeals court also sentenced H A and M A to an additional year in prison for killing the second victim, after his family waived their right to a death sentence.

The case arose when a fourth sibling was killed by the brother of one of the Omani victims in August 2009.

The 19-year-old Emirati brother was tricked into going to the Al Buraimi area of Oman, where he was told a wise man would give him a drink that brings good luck.

He died after drinking it.

A medical report in the UAE showed that someone broke the victim’s neck after drugging him.

A neutral GCC country conducted its own examination and drew a similar conclusion.

At a trial in Oman, the court could not determine if the death was premeditated. So, the judge sentenced the defendants to life.

This drove the victim’s brothers to seek revenge and on May 4, 2012, the Omanis travelled to Al Ain, where they were shot dead.