Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/01/2010110133141501815.html
Apparently the 'court' believed his story that he was under the influence of medication, and therefore not responsible for his actions. The judge accepted this, even though his lawyers failed to state exactly which medication he was taking. Oh, and by the way, the trial was held in secret and without a jury. Of course. Well, that IS the mark of a really civilised country!
The really guilty party was, in the curious jurisdiction of the court, the guy who recorded the Sheikh's cruelty on tape. He got five years!!
Actually, I'm quite glad that the unfortunate sheikh managed to wriggle out of his chains. When the police come knocking on my door accusing me of defaming the Crown and lampooning the UAE, I can always claim I was under the influence of medication. And hopefully my trial will be in secret with just the judge and a few legal bods present - I wouldn't want to embarass the family, would I?
Nice one, Sheikh!
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35 comments:
When the police come knocking on my door accusing me of defaming the Crown and lampooning the UAE, I can always claim I was under the influence of medication.
No . . . you'll get 4 years if you're lucky :)
Hmm, so once again the UAE is the laughing stock of the civilised world. After the over-hyped and pointless 'spectacle' of the Burj Dubai/Khalifa, we now have 3rd world courts displaying their cowardice and corruption.
Just about 350 years ago in Britain a King was beheaded for daring to claim he was infallible and omnipotent. If only things here were as 'clear cut'!
It's no joke. Being drunk, anywhere in the world, doesn't count as an excuse for harming someone in an accident if you choose to drive. So why do 'medications' excuse deliberate savagery in this case?
wow. but then again, what were we expecting?
Well, I think the Gulf News story says something like the sheikh was drugged. So he was the real victim here... Right.
Yeah... it is a travesty. A real shame that this is what the justice system here comes up with. I hope this makes the international press big time.
The UAE has a lot to recommend it. The "justice" system is not one of them.
I wonder how international media is going to react to this...
For the first time in my life, I am absolutely speechless and utterly disgusted!
I wonder how much they paid the "medical" testifiers to get him clean from his horrendous deeds ...
it's funny how you guys are so much into this person (a drug dealer ) when millions out there including children and women are being Tortured daily while you watch it drinking your beer,
My friend, there are no justice in this world, it's just money and politics.
You can guess who would make such a comment. The drug dealer of course, is the "grain dealer"
Obviously that guy may have been guilty of some fraud or the other, but I find it funny how one travesty of justice is excused by claiming that the whole world is like this, when its not...
This issa surprise?
The 'Government' here had an opportunity to set an historic precedent but they ended up wasting it, as usual & always.
No pictures please. Move along, nothing to see here. Move along, nice and quite -
Not everyone has gotten off with the excuse that they were "coerced" into raping and torturing a man.
A cook has been sentenced to one year in prison and deportation because he tied up the merchant.
Two workers on the sheikh’s farm were sentenced to three years for “partaking” in the abuse.
The court has sentenced the Nabulsi brothers for five years in prison, in absentia.
Let's punish more poor people (non-citizens) and pretend we are doing justice.
And the a** kissers are out in full flow !
From an expat:
I do understand the
disappointment; well few people just wanted the Shk to be convicted irrespective of the fact whether he committed the crime or not. What a funny and absurd way of thinking
The legal body & its verdict should be respected. The defendant although from Royal family was under detention for 7 mths. A fair chance was given to claimant & defendant, then final judgment was passed. I don’t know of any court which decides based on videos, they can be fabricated etc. Also, anyone could buy a police uniform and get a video shot
And once again, the Emirates makes my job defending it against ignorant and racist comments here in the US harder.
Ditto what Brn says just above.
See, also,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8453280.stm
he US has called on the United Arab Emirates to review a court ruling which acquitted a member of its ruling family of torture charges.
The court found Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan not guilty of abusing an Afghan man - apparently on grounds of diminished responsibility.
A US state department official said questions had been raised and the US would welcome a careful review.
Well, well. Gotta love it when the US state department assumes the moral high ground.
Brn, conversely, how do you think the dismissal of charges against the thugs who slaughtered 17 innocent Iraqis in Baghdad was received here in the Muslim world?
(for those who don't know, I'm referring to the Blackwater guards)
I’m myself having hard time convincing people here that US is all about justice and fairness. And those are average people I’m trying to convince, mind you.
@Dubai Jazz:
Well, well. Gotta love it when the US state department assumes the moral high ground.
Brn, conversely, how do you think the dismissal of charges against the thugs who slaughtered 17 innocent Iraqis in Baghdad was received here in the Muslim world?
(for those who don't know, I'm referring to the Blackwater guards)
I’m myself having hard time convincing people here that US is all about justice and fairness. And those are average people I’m trying to convince, mind you.
Well, to begin with, UAE is not USA. If someone jumps off of a bridge, you are expected not to mimic their reckless behavior. If USA has tortured and killed in vain before, it does not make it justifiable.
My basic reaction is how dare you try to justify the Sheikh's actions?
Secondly, the video speaks for itself. It is very reflective of mafia-style greed-motivated vengeance. I mean, there is something called "court of laws", or are just Sheikhs above the law? Explain to me how that is fair.
He would have won the case anyways, but to commit such reprehensible actions, then use "medication" as an excuse is just absurd.
What if all smokers decided to quit and medicate their condition, should we expect a rampant wave of reckless torture?
The point is, this is morally, legally, ethically, and most important, religiously abhorrent. There is no way you can justify it; quid du pro doesn't apply here.
DJ,
A very good point. I'm sure that the dismissal was badly received. I'm sort of resigned to that fact that many people, yourself not included, will take every bad thing any American does and using it blame the whole country. Kind of like too many Americans do with smearing every Muslim with the misdeeds of a few.
I don't think any country is "all about justice and fairness". I've said it before, I'll say it again: The US, like every other country run and populated by human beings, is not perfect. I don't try to convince anyone here that the UAE is perfect, merely that there are many sides to the story. This current story or Dubai financial troubles are no more the complete UAE story than the previous "aren't all these mega projects awesome" stories were.
Brn,
Thanks for the candid response. I actually do not disagree with you. I will try to make my point with a little circumvention: so far it's only obvious that concern for interests is what governs policies not concern for human rights.
And this is what makes US reactions (such as in the article posted by JB) look hollow and surreal.
Khalood,
Strawman much?
DJ and anyone else:
Never mind what the rest of the world is saying or doing, if you feel anything except outrage for what has happened, your response is a shame.
Justifications, comparisons all come later. You are less than human if you think you want to makes excuses for this.
It's not as if they refused to try the sheikh - that would have been an upfront stand that the royal family is exempt. The world coud take it or lump it.
But to take it to court, go through the process of a trial and then acquit him is all sorts of hypocrisy and disgusting.
And if ordinary people feel compelled to justify that, well..
@anon 13jan 10:54: It's not as if they refused to try the sheikh - that would have been an upfront stand that the royal family is exempt. The world coud take it or lump it.
they took a sheikh to court, went through process of trial, acquitted him, and have proven - beyond reasonable doubt, in court - that the royal family is exempt.
take it or lump it.
Does anybody here know what was the exact or approx value of the Talebanized drugs -- oops my bad, that should have read grain -- the Afghan siphoned off?
http://wp.me/pIP1s-2c
What really makes my stomach turn is the victim kissing Sheikh Issa's cheeks in apparent enthusiastic forgiveness. The verdict is a blow to all the UAE has done to become a great, modern country that follows the rule of law. Like Brn, I'm at a loss as to how to explain this in the US to friends.
@hemlock: I'm sure you are trying to make a point.. I unfortunately cannot see it.
It's not my country and I really could not care less.
It's strange that the UAE would care about world opinion enough to initiate a trial only in response to coverage in world media.
So the UAE seems to care about world opinion.
Then it seems to be assume that the world is foolish. That courts are a joke. And apologists in the UAE seem to feel that the courts are like this everywhere. It's a sad, pathetic way of looking at world. If this is what living in a country does to someone, the world can only pity expats who feel the need to be loyal rather than moral and citizens whom they echo.
Thankfully there are other voices.
DJ
Well, rather than posting such mediocre replies, try attempting to respond to such atrocity. You are unbelievable!
Khalood, you're the unbelievable one here, I like how you twisted Dubai Jazz's statements that he was trying to justify Issa's ugly actions. Calm down and read what he stated once more.
You're trying too much that you make me laugh.
Like Brn, I'm at a loss as to how to explain this in the US to friends.
................
How about saving your efforts, both of you?
Al-ain Rose:
It is very implicit; it called guilt shifting, which indirectly intends to permissively dismiss one party from their fault by passing a blame onto another party.
Shame on the U.S. Federal court system for doing so, but that case is not typical. Whereas in this case with the Afghan grain trader, you cannot lie by saying that it was not expected that the verdict will be in Sheikh Issa's favor, when ALL of his accessories were found guilty. How was he found innocent, when he was the head of this atrocity, and all his accomplices were found guilty?
Justice, the myth of, has been served.
As Brn also said, now in the U.S., everyone will know the U.A.E. as a country that acquits "tortures" just because of their social status. It's not how justice operates, you know?
So yes, it is unbelievable that Dubai Jazz would say such thing.
يا خلود يا حبيبي,
يبدو عليك أنك شاب ذكي و مهذب. أنصحك بأن لا تتقول علي الأقاويل. و شكراً
Dubai Jazz:
I don't really know why you would get the impression that I, on a personal basis, have attacked you. I am merely trying to extract and further the discussion.
It was neither my intention to offend you, nor was it to defame you in anyway, shape or form. Please do accept my profound and sincere apologies. Thank you.
Nevertheless, this case is quite compelling.
Given that everyone seems to be related and / or connected in the UAE is it too much to suspect that Mr Judge was hardly likely to sentence someone he has some ties too.
Cues music to Godfather.
Dear Khalood,
No need to apologize. I asked you to please not put words in my mouth: do not assume that I’m taking a certain position and then attack it (hence the strawman reference).
Poor Sheikh. How could anyone have thought he was responsible for abusing that merchant... He was being used.. in his palace. So helpless!
I wonder why this ever went to court. They should have just complained to his mother.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/shaikh-eisa-given-juice-spiked-with-drugs-witness-1.571203
from gulf news
"No control
The court verdict also said: "The jury concluded that Shaikh Eisa was unaware of his acts and had no control over his behaviour because he was given intoxicating drugs and mind-affecting substances without any knowledge from his side or knowledge about its content and effects. The imam of the palace's mosque testified that G.N. was in charge of handling Shaikh Eisa's medication and regulated the times when he used it. G.N. used to mix the drugs with the medicines and give it to Shaikh Eisa, testified the imam. Another witness also testified that Shaikh Eisa used to behave strangely and would lose control soon after G.N. gave him his medication each time. The court was further convinced that G.N. and his brother B.N. orchestrated the incident and videotaped it secretly and they broadcast it after they failed to blackmail Shaikh Eisa. The court acquitted Shaikh Eisa for lack of responsibility over his behaviour."
Shaikh Eisa's lawyer, Dr Habib Al Mulla, told Gulf News on Wednesday: "This proves that the judgment was well-founded, taking into consideration all issues pertaining to the case. The judgement confirms our line of defence that the tape which was broadcast is not admissible evidence and that it had been tampered with."
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