Dubai court upholds not guilty verdict for men cleared of stabbing

DUBAI // Three Emiratis who were cleared of stabbing a man to death outside a nightclub, have had their not guilty verdict upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court at an earlier hearing that F K, 22, K A, 21, and A S, 19, killed E M, whose nationality was not revealed, outside the club in Al Qusais in the early hours of February 23, 2013. All were charged with premeditated murder, which they denied during the court case in July last year.

S S, 27, an Indian waiter, told prosecutors that he finished his shift at the club at the Dubai Grand Hotel and was making his way to the employee office at the car park when he heard a fight.

“I didn’t care because we hear that often,” said S S, who walked towards the exit but then saw two of the defendants running towards him and ordering him to go back. “As I turned back one of them stabbed me in the thigh and I ran to the office where I asked colleagues to call police and an ambulance,” S S said.

Emirati A D, 35, was with the victim at the club and told prosecutors the three men were screaming. “They were also screaming that they would kill one of the customers,” he said.

He said that when he and E M got to the car park they saw F K, K A and A S coming towards them. “They came to fight with E M. I tried to do something to end the fight but F K assaulted me and K A was reaching for his knife so I got scared and ran. I took a taxi home and the next day I learnt that E M was killed.”

F K, K A and A S were arrested after police checked the hotel’s surveillance cameras, although the footage did not show their faces.

Court records did not mention a reason for the murder. F K, K A and A S were found not guilty by the Criminal Court.