AFP
An Emirati court on Sunday acquitted Sheikh Issa bin Zayed, of charges of torturing an Afghan citizen, his lawyer told AFP.
“The court acquitted Sheikh Issa after establishing he was not responsible,” for the torture, lawyer Habib Al Mulla said.
“The court accepted our defence that the Sheikh was under the influence of drugs (medicine) that left him unaware of his actions,” the lawyer said.
The court in the oasis city of Al-Ain however ordered the co-defendents to pay a “temporary compensation” of 10,000 dirhams (2,724 dollars) to the Afghan, who can file a new lawsuit to claim full compensation, the lawyer added.
Sheikh Issa had pleaded not guilty at a hearing last month.
The lawyer told last month’s hearing that the sheikh had been drugged against his will during the incident and had no recollection of what had happened.
“We submitted medical reports showing that the drugs that the two co-defendants administered to him left him unaware of his actions,” the lawyer said on December 15.
He has been in custody for several months and was charged at an opening hearing in October.
The lawyer told last month’s hearing that one of the sheikh’s seven co-defendants was responsible for Sheikh Issa’s medications and drugged him, then videotaped the incident and tried to blackmail him.
Khaleej Times
