Lawyers ask to be taken off Dubai prison gang murder case

A case file surrounding a murder at Dubai Central Jail is missing vital documents, hears court.

DUBAI // A case file regarding the murder of a gang leader in Dubai Central Prison who was stabbed 37 times by a rival group is incomplete, the Criminal Court heard yesterday.

Two lawyers appointed by the court to defend 12 of 18 inmates accused of killing Ayyoub Abdul Rida – known as Ayyoub The Burned – asked to be taken off the case, while others complained the case file was missing important documents. The lawyers also complained that the original photographs of the crime scene were not included in the file, only black and white photo-copies with insufficient detail.

Rida, 42, an Emirati, was stabbed to death with sharpened wooden sticks and shivs by four men while 14 others formed a ring to protect the attackers. During the attack on August 20 last year, the inmates – from a rival gang – sliced off one of Rida’s ears and the tip of one of his fingers.

Eighteen men have been charged with premeditated murder. Seven of these face a separate charge of assaulting one of Rida’s friends.

A further five defendants – ZS, 27, from Georgia, PK, 32, Uzbek, SE, 29, and JP, 40, both Russian, and EM, 31, from Kyrgyzstan – are accused of being part of Rida’s gang and face charges of attempted murder over an earlier fight.

The court adjourned the case to next month while it appoints new lawyers.