Dubai - "The child Obaida's blood is our responsibility"
Published: Wed 11 Jan 2017, 5:54 PM
Dubai's Attorney-General has stressed he would not rest until Obaida's convicted killer is executed.
Attorney-General Eissam Issa Al Humaidan's statement came following the last hearing into the trial at the Court of Appeals, in which the defence advocate presented his closing arguments and following which the court announced a verdict would be handed down on January 22.
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"The child Obaida's blood is our responsibility. The public prosecution will not accept less than the death penalty," the Attorney-General said.
In the last hearing, defence lawyer Ali Musabeh argued before the Court of Appeals that his client, 48-year-old Jordanian Nidal Eissa Abdullah, had an anti-social character and had been mistreated within his own family, pleading the bench of judges for leniency.
Al Humaidan also pointed out that the public prosecution is following up closely on the proceedings of the case, according to the law, in all the three stages, up to the execution of the sentence.
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A report by a committee of psychiatrists, which mentally evaluated Abdullah, showed that he was anti-social. But the report failed to show whether his condition was treatable or not, the advocate argued in court.
The report, which was earlier presented to the court, revealed Abdullah, was mentally stable and sane with an anti-social character and suffered from alcohol abuse. However, the convict could be still held responsible for his behaviour and actions, according to the report.
The Attorney-General's statement was posted on the Dubai public prosecution social media accounts.
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Abdullah was sentenced to death in August by the Dubai Court of First Instance which convicted him of sexually assaulting and killing the Jordanian child, Obaida, 8, while heavily intoxicated.
Abdullah is also accused of kidnapping the victim from outside his parents' house in Sharjah, on May 20 last year. Obaida was reported missing the same day and his body was found two days later on a roadside in Al Warqa area in Dubai.
mary@khaleejtimes.com