SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR GOLD THIEVES

Gulf Times, Qatar
Feb 18 2007

A UKRAINIAN man (37) and an Armenian woman (56) have been given a
one-year suspended sentence after they were found guilty of stealing
gold worth QR55,670 from a shop in Doha last year.

The third accused, a 35-year-old Armenian woman, was cleared of the
charges as entry stamps in her passport showed that she arrived in
Qatar on a tourist visa on September 16, 2006, two days after the
theft took place.

The two convicts were awarded a similar sentence some two months ago
in another theft case, and they are still facing more charges in gold
theft cases.

Basel Jawad, a spokesman for the Armenian community in Doha, said
that the police had accused the group of stealing a total of 2.5kg
of gold in four cases.

While issuing judgment, the court mainly relied on the confession of
the Ukrainian man who said he was the mastermind behind all the four
thefts in Doha in September.

"His modus operandi was to put gold chains in his pocket while the
shopkeeper was busy showing jewellery to the female customers."

The Asian shop assistant had testified that the three accused came
to his shop on the day and he showed them gold necklaces.