- Witness Gives Court Trial Testimony By Video Russian

- MP Provided ‘Golden Gun’ Used In Dubai Killing, Court Told

- Yamadayev Assassination Case Hearing Postponed

- Five-Year Jail Term For Attempted Murder

- Last Prosecution Witness Deposes In Tamweel Case
 

gulfnews.com, Tuesday 2 Feb 2010

Witness Gives Court Trial Testimony By Video

One of the witnesses in the case gave her testimony through a video conference session because she was out of the country.

Abu Dhabi, WAM:

The model courtroom in Abu Dhabi Judiciary Department has witnessed the first video testimony during a trial for a criminal case.

One of the witnesses in the case gave her testimony through a video conference session because she was out of the country.

The Judiciary department used the new communication system, which is the first of its kind in the UAE, in coordination with the concerned authority in the witness's country.

The witness then told her story live during the court trial.

The model courtroom includes many other state-of-the-art technologies, such as an audio-video recording, video conferencing and language interpretation systems.

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thenational.ae, Tuesday 2 Feb 2010

Russian MP Provided ‘Golden Gun’ Used In Dubai Killing, Court Told
 

Dubai, Awad Mustafa:
The Russian MP and former deputy prime minister of Chechnya, Adam Delimkhanov, provided the “golden gun” used to assassinate the Chechen warlord Sulim Yamadayev and said Yamadayev “must die”, a court heard yesterday.

A police officer testified that a suspect in the case directly implicating Mr Delimkhanov in the killing. The second-hand testimony marked the first time Mr Delimkhanov has been linked in open court to the alleged plot to murder Yamadayev.

The officer, Mohammed al Mutawa’a, testified that he had been told that Mr Delimkhanov, a close ally of the Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov, had provided the gun allegedly used to kill Yamadayev in the basement car park of his apartment at Jumeirah Beach Residence.

Mr al Mutawa’a said Mr Kadyrov’s horse groomer, M H, currently on trial for aiding and abetting a premeditated murder, had heard Mr Delimkhanov speak ill of Yamadayev, saying: “He must die.”

According to Mr al Mutawa’a, M H, 37, from Iran, gave him a detailed confession during interrogation and claimed that he received the murder weapon from Mr Delimkhanov about three months before the March 28 murder.

A delegation of Chechen officials had apparently been visiting Dubai in early January.

“MH said that he received a bag from Adam just before the Chechen president’s delegation left the country heading back,” Mr al Mutawa’a told the court. “He said that he found a golden gun inside the bag after he grew curious to its contents.”

Court documents show that, during that visit, Mr Delimkhanov and another Chechen man had followed Yamadayev, who was returning to Dubai after a trip, from the airport to his home as part of the planning of the alleged assassination.

MH and another suspect MJ, a Tajik, are both being tried for aiding and abetting the crime. MH is also charged with possessing an unlicensed weapon. Mr al Mutawa’a told the court yesterday that MH claimed Mr Delimkhanov had contacted him three months after handing over the bag and asked him to text him Yamadayev’s Jumeirah Beach Residence address. He said that MH said that Mr Delimkhanov later told him to take some people to stake out Yamadayev’s home.

MH allegedly told Mr al Mutawa’a that three men had surveyed the complex’s basement parking area for 45 minutes, making a note of Yamadayev’s parking space.

Mr Delimkhanov contacted MH on another occasion, instructing him to hand the murder weapon to another person.

MH told the officer, according to his testimony in court, that he had handed the bag containing the gold-plated 9mm Stechkin APS pistol with a full magazine to a Russian man he was instructed to meet by Mr Delimkhanov. MH allegedly met him near Clock Tower roundabout in Deira and handed over the bag.

Yamadayev, who was aged 35, had commanded the elite Vostok battalion in Chechnya. He was a Chechen rebel fighter who reportedly switched sides to fight for the Russians.

Police said Yamadayev had been living in Dubai with his wife and six children after he reportedly moved here earlier in 2009.

Interpol has issued seven arrest warrants in the case, including one for Mr Delimkhanov.

The trial was yesterday adjourned until February 25. The defendants were remanded in custody and were refused bail.

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Khaleej Times Online, Tuesday 2 Feb 2010

Yamadayev Assassination Case Hearing Postponed

Dubai, Mary Nammour:

The Iranian defendant in the assassination case of Sulim Yamadayev, ex-rebel Chechen leader in March last year, kept the murder weapon (gun) for a person called ‘Adam’ before the departure of the Chechen President’s delegation from the UAE in late 2008, the Court of First Instance heard on Monday.

The court later postponed the hearing to February 25 for defense counsel Obeid Ali and Jumaa Al Bawardi to present their arguments.

“Adam gave the Iranian a suitcase prior to the departure of the President’s delegation. Later, out of curiosity he opened the small suitcase and he found a golden gun,” a police officer, who interrogated the accused said.

The 37-year-old Iranian clerk is standing trial with a Tajikistani business partner, 37, for abetting and conspiring in the assassination of 
Yamadayev.

Yamadayev was shot in the back of the head in late March last year as he stepped out of his 4WD in the basement car park of the Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) where he lived with his wife and six children.

The witness also testified that the defendant told him that he received a call from Adam about three months later. “Adam asked the Iranian to send the victim’s address by SMS. The defendant was told that others would call him to note down the victim’s address,” the witness added.

According to his statement, the Iranian admitted to having been contacted by a man from Adam’s side. “He said that they met near Yamadayev’s place in Rimal Building in JBR and there was a third person. Adam told him to hand the suitcase to that man”.

A police officer earlier claimed that the Iranian accused gave a lift many times to the mastermind in the slaying of the ex-rebel Chechen leader while the Tajikistani accomplice helped the suspected killer flee the country.

The Iranian was told that Adam wanted to finish Yamadayev because he had nursed a grudge. He was aware that a murder would take place but did not know when and did not inform police about it.

The Tajikistani is accused of conspiracy in the murder. Court records said he followed the victim to his residence on March 28 and informed the murder suspects about his movement. Based on his call, they went to the place and assassinated Yamadayev.

The lieutenant, who interrogated the Tajikistani, told the court earlier that the latter’s role was to give a ride to the suspects to the victim’s place in JBR and later drop the killer at the airport.

“He was offered $100,000 for his contribution but he said he did not get anything,” the lieutenant said.

The police found a sketch showing the gate leading to the lift and the gate leading to the Walk (JBR) in the Tajikistani’s apartment in Rigga Street in Muraqqabat.

The UAE police are still seeking five other suspects at least. Adam who is mentioned in the investigation and court’s quizzing is believed to be Adam Delimkhanov, the Chechen Deputy Prime Minister.

He was named as the mastermind of the assassination of Yamadayev. “A gun left by Yamdayev’s killer was found to be registered to guards of Adam Delimkhanov,” said Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai Police Chief. Police have sought the extradition of Delimkhanov to the UAE.

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Khaleej Times Online, Tuesday 2 Feb 2010

Five-Year Jail Term For Attempted Murder

Dubai, KT:

The Court of Appeals upheld the five-year imprisonment term given by a lower court to an Uzbek visitor for attempted murder. The court also upheld the defendant’s deportation order.

The Court of First Instance sentenced on December 20 last year the 36-year-old visitor to five years in prison as he was found guilty of attempting to murder a compatriot roommate by stabbing him repeatedly with a knife. He was also sentenced to be deported after completing his term.

The incident happened on August 22 of 2008 when the accused was under the influence of liquor. He was stopped short of killing the man thanks to the intervention of other roommates and friends who happened to be there.

The plaintiff, a 39-year-old Uzbek trader, told the prosecutors that his roommate tried to kill him when he was angry after he asked him to stop 
drinking.

“It was about midnight when the defendant was consuming liquor with a friend of his in my accommodation. We had a quarrel when I asked him to stop drinking in the house,” the plaintiff said.

The plaintiff alleged that he was outside talking to a friend when the defendant stabbed him in the back. “I turned to ask him why he stabbed me and then he stabbed me again in the abdomen,” he added.

The trader said he lost consciousness and his friends rushed him to Dubai Hospital where he remained in the Intensive Care Unit for 18 days. He underwent surgeries in the places where he was stabbed and he was left with a five per cent permanent disability in his left shoulder.

The trader’s friend who witnessed the incident alleged he received a call from the plaintiff that day. “At about 11pm he called me asking me to come over to his place as he wanted to borrow money from me,” the plaintiff’s friend claimed.

The witness said he gave his friend Dh200 and had a little talk in his car. “He then stepped off my car and walked home. At that moment I saw his roommate yelling at him. The latter looked drunk,” he claimed.

The witness said he heard his friend, the plaintiff, telling his roommate to take his baggage outside his accommodation. “Then the plaintiff ignored him and walked towards the entrance door. The defendant asked him to come back to sort things out like men,” he said.

The witness alleged that he saw the defendant brandishing a knife and stabbing his friend. “He followed him stabbing him in the back,” the witness claimed. He tried to separate between them but the defendant tried to stab him too.

When he tried to rush his friend to hospital he was shocked to see the defendant inside his car. The latter could not however move the gear so he had to step off.

“He was trying to escape. Before he could stab the plaintiff one more time he was punched by one of my friends,” the witness said.

By the time the police reached the crime scene the defendant had fled the place. He was arrested in the Al Hamriyah area opposite Dubai Hospital. He admitted to stabbing his roommate and he said that he was drunk at that time, a corporal said.

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Khaleej Times Online, Tuesday 2 Feb 2010

Last Prosecution Witness Deposes In Tamweel Case

Dubai, Mary Nammour:

A finance director told the court that a former deputy chairman of real estate finance provider Tamweel who was his boss earlier used to 
buy plots and resell them to make personal profits.

“He sold three plots in Al Jaddaf Project and made profits to the tune of about Dh20 million in partnership with the ex-deputy CEO (of Tamweel),” the Indian finance director said.

The witness said his former boss, who used to do private investment business, signed the purchase agreements and asked him to issue title deeds. “Tamweel’s ex-deputy CEO was a 50 per cent partner in the sale of the three plots. I had issued a cheque in his brother’s name,” he claimed.

The finance director was the last witness of the prosecution to be heard by the court. The next hearing is fixed on February 21 to hear to the defense witnesses.

The case involves the former deputy chairman and the former deputy CEO of Tamweel, both Emiratis, who are accused of collecting bribes worth more than Dh41 million when purchasing and then reselling three plots of land to make personal gains. They allegedly collected the bribes to pass a partnership agreement between Tamweel and Bonyan Holding. They are also accused of embezzling Dh13.8 million by purchasing and reselling two other plots of land (they allegedly purchased at a price less than the market value and resold at a higher price), damaging Tamweel’s interests.

Three other executives are also standing trial in the case including a Jordanian former Director of Investment Department in Tamweel, a Jordanian former chairman of a private real estate company, and an Emirati former CEO of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB).

The Public Prosecution recently presented the court with a modified arraignment sheet in which it described Tamweel’s former two senior executives on trial as public officers assigned with a public service.

Earlier, Egyptian director of the Audit Department Mohammed Moustafa told the court that after drawing up the financial report, on which the Tamweel case has been built, he found out 
that the senior executives of the real estate finance company made illegal profiteering.

The auditor spoke about ‘fishy business deals’ made by the former senior executives in 2007 and 2008.

He said that the unlawful gains were made through the sale of plots in Al Jaddaf Project.

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