Policemen found not guilty of torture

Thirteen police officers have been acquitted of torturing a man who died during interrogation.

Dubai Public Prosecution had laid a number of charges against the officers - varying from abuse of power, unlawful detention of the Pakistani man and two other men, torture, extensive use of force during interrogation, forgery and giving a false statement during official questioning by a public prosecutor.

Five of the policemen were convicted of unlawful detention of the suspect who died and were sentenced to a month in jail.

A forensic doctor at Dubai Police found the dead man had significant bruising and suspected he had been abused, official records stated.

The doctor notified prosecutors of his findings, which led to an investigation.

“There were bruises, cuts and injuries all over his body,” the doctor said in the records. “He suffered bleeding on the brain too.”

Among the 13 accused - nine Emiratis, two Pakistanis and two Omanis - there was a brigadier, a captain and five lieutenants.

During the case, the police officers had claimed the man sustained his injures while being held in custody in Oman but died after being transferred to Dubai.

The dead man and the two others detainees - who claimed they had also been abused - had been arrested

for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a Pakistani man in the lorry business. Police say the victim had disappeared after arranging a meeting to buy new vehicles.

His body was found buried in Sharjah.

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