DUBAI: PRISON GUARDS FOUND GUILTY OF ABUSE – IMPRISONED

Daijiworld.com
July 01, 2008
India

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced the former
director of Dubai’s main male prison to six months in jail.

DUBAI – Jun 30: The former director of Dubai’s biggest male prison
and six guards were sentenced to six months in jail today for abusing
their authority and seriously assaulting prisoners.

Four judges from the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance, who also
found 18 other guards and members of the police riot squad guilty of
simple assault, opened the way for the 12 victims to seek compensation
and a civil case has been referred to the Dubai Civil Court.

The men, who are on bail pending an appeal, were arrested after
inmates made allegations of violence following a search for drugs at
the prison on Aug 1 last year. They said the guards lined both sides
of a gangway and kicked and hit prisoners as they passed.

One of the prisoners, SK, an Armenian man, suffered a serious spinal
injury as a result of the attack.

"From the facts of the case, it was clear the inmates were assaulted,"
said the presiding judge Fahmi Munir.

He said those sentenced to six months, including TK, the director,
were charged with causing disfigurement to seven of the prisoners.

"The remaining defendants were guilty of simple assault, a misdemeanour
charge, so they only got three months," Judge Munir added.

The convictions were made despite two inmates withdrawing their
evidence during the trial. They said they had been pressured by other
inmates to give evidence to "get back" at the guards and police.

The defence, which will appeal, argued SK was injured when he fell down
the stairs after stumbling as other inmates rushed from their cells.

During his closing argument, the defence lawyer, Nabih Bader, one of
seven defence counsel, questioned how a case could be brought against
officers who had worked for the police for more than 20 years.

He said the charges were based on shaky and conflicting testimony
of vindictive prisoners who hoped to use the abuse claim as a way of
garnering some sympathy from officials and getting an early release.

Mr Bader argued that the spinal injuries suffered by SK, whose claims
were the cornerstone of the prosecution’s case, was the result of a
fall and not assault by prison guards.

Mr Bader had attempted to cast doubt on CCTV camera footage of inmates
being beaten, pointing out that "cameras cannot show all angles and
therefore cannot reveal the whole picture".

He also said police guards and riot squad members did what they
were trained and ordered to do, which was to restrain disruptive,
violent and abusive prisoners. He also asked the court to disregard
the civil suit.

The panel was chaired by Judge Munir, with the member judges Dr Ali
Hassan Galadari, Mansour al Awadi and Omar Karmastaji.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress