DUBAI// Three Emiratis have been found not guilty by Dubai Criminal Court of stabbing a man to death outside a nightclub.
Prosecutors said that F K, 22, K A, 21, and A S, 19, had planned to murder E M outside a club in Al Qusais in the early hours of February 23, 2013.
They were all charged with premeditated murder, which they denied in court last July.
S S, 27, an Indian waiter, told prosecutors when he finished his shift at the club, at Dubai Grand Hotel, he was making his way to the employee attendance 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,” said S S.
Emirati A D, 35, was with the victim at the club and told prosecutors the three defendants were screaming and disturbing customers. “They were also screaming loudly that they will kill someone from the customers,” said A D.
He said that when he and E M arrived at the car park they saw the three defendants 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 to his knife so I got scared and ran.
“I took a taxi home and the next day I learnt that E M was killed.”
The defendants were tracked down after police checked the hotel’s surveillance cameras, though no footage showed their faces. They were subsequently arrested and referred to prosecution.
Court records did not mention the reason for the murder but stated that the defendants had criminal records.
salamir@thenational.ae