Two charged with Somali man's murder

DUBAI // Two men face the death penalty for premeditated murder after prosecutors charged them with stabbing and killing a Somali man last September.

The defendants, the Abu Dhabi-born Somali national AO, 24, and his compatriot AM, 26, were charged yesterday at the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance. Both men denied the charges.

AO told prosecutors he did not intend to kill the victim, identified as Ahmed Sulaiman, but was defending himself during a fight.

"He pulled a knife on us during the fight, I stabbed him with a metal pike in his chest. I did not want to kill him," AO had said in a statement to prosecutors.

The alleged murder took place in the Naif district of Deira. A police officer told prosecutors that the attack was reported by a bystander who heard screams and said he saw the two men pull Sulaiman into a building.

According to their statements, AO and AM said that they went to see Sulaiman, who was residing at a woman's flat in Naif. The three argued and were kicked out by the flat owner.

AM told prosecutors that he left AO fighting, and Sulaiman was alive. AO, however, claimed that when he was attacked with the knife he stabbed the man, and then held him and AM stabbed him with a broken alcohol bottle.

Forensic evidence presented to court showed that police collected broken glass at the crime scene and had found a broken half of a whisky bottle.

The court will reconvene on January 9 to hear defence statements.

amustafa@thenational.ae