Dubai: Two women serving life sentences since 1998 on charges of murder have sought pardon and early release a second time.
The Uzbek and Kazakh suspects, who worked as prostitutes, were convicted of killing their madam (the woman who owned the brothel), dousing the body with benzene and burning it beyond recognition. They are serving life sentences in Dubai Central Jail. A Jordanian man served as an accomplice.
In April 2000, the Cassation Court confirmed life sentences for the trio. The man and the Uzbek woman were given an additional year in jail for having sex while the man and the Kazakh woma got six more months for consuming liquor. The court also handed a one-year jail term to the two women for working as prostitutes.
The women made a second appeal (within one year) for special pardon and early release before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Their first petition for pardon was rejected in July 2013. As per the law, the petitioners had to wait for another year before lodging their second plea.
Article 45 of Law No 43 of 1992 on Regulating Punitive and Reformative Establishments, states that a prisoner who has completed 15 years of a life sentence is entitled to file a special petition asking to be released from prison.
According to court records, the three suspects attacked the victim with kitchen knives while she slept in her bedroom. When they realised that she was still breathing, the man suffocated her with a pillow and they continued stabbing her. They then wrapped the body in a blanket and put the corpse inside a big plastic bag which they left on top of the building where they stayed. Later, they moved the body by taxi to Ajman and placed it in a deserted villa. The Kazakh woman headed to a petrol station and bought benzene with which they doused the body and burnt it. The defendants also stole the victim’s money and belongings.
The court’s decision will be heard next month.
