DUBAI // Two prostitutes jailed for life for murder have lost their appeal for early release.
The pair have served 15 years of their 25-year sentences for a premeditated murder in 1998.
E?P from Kazakhstan was 26 at the time, while MM from Uzbekistan was 21. They were jailed along with MM's boyfriend, AR, who was 20.
Their victim, Elena Babej, had brought them to the UAE, taken their passports and most of their income from prostitution.
The trio plotted to kill her and murdered her on March 25, 1998.
MM and her boyfriend entered Babej's room while she was asleep and took turns holding a pillow over her head to silence her screams while the other stabbed her. She died when the boyfriend strangled her. EP kept watch outside while the attack took place.
The three then hid the body on the roof, drank vodka and cleaned the blood from the flat.
They later wrapped the body in plastic and drove to an abandoned villa in Ajman, stopping at a petrol station on the way to buy fuel to set the corpse on fire.
The women applied to Dubai Criminal Court for early release based on good behaviour. Court records did not say if the boyfriend had applied.
salamir@thenational.ae