SHARJAH // Seventeen Indians who escaped the death penalty last year after being convicted of murder were sentenced yesterday to six months in jail for illegally selling alcohol.
The Sharjah Court of Appeal found the men guilty of bootlegging, but because they have already spent three years behind bars they will not have to serve any time on that charge.
The verdict brought a conclusion to the criminal case against the men but they are still behind bars because of a pending civil case against them.
The 17 were convicted of killing a Pakistani man in a bootlegging brawl in Sharjah in 2009. They were spared the death sentence after Dh3.4 million in blood money was paid to the victim's family last year.
In September last year, the Sharjah Court of Appeal ordered the men to be deported and commuted their sentences to two years.
But prosecutors appealed against the verdict at the Federal Supreme Court, urging it to take into account injuries sustained by three other men in the brawl, and further charges of possessing and selling alcohol.
The court ordered the appeal court to review only the bootlegging charges. The men were not in court for yesterday morning's proceedings.
Two of the three men who claimed they were injured in the 2009 brawl have filed a Dh1.5 million compensation suit at the Sharjah Court of First Instance. The civil case has been adjourned to February 15.
Yesterday, anxious family members and the men's lawyers were hoping the 17 could return to India soon.
"The prosecution put the travel ban at the behest of the other lawyer," said Bindu Suresh Chettur, of the Mohammed Salman Advocates and Legal Consultants, a firm appointed by the Indian government to defend the convicted men.
"It is for the prosecution to decide whether to revoke this ban. We are hopeful that the accused can go back soon to their country."
Arjinder Singh, brother of Arvinder Singh, one of the jailed men, said: "I am confident they will return soon now. This case has been going on for a while now and there has been a lot of uncertainty.
"Last time we were very disappointed that they were not released."
Another relative said she was cautiously happy about the verdict.
Ranjit Kaur, the wife of Dharampal Singh, another of the convicted men, said: "I am happy but also sceptical about when they will return. It's happened before."
pkannan@thenational.ae