The UAE’s top court sentenced an Asian man to death for murdering a compatriot to get his insurance money while his accomplice was jailed for 10 years.
The supreme federal court found the main defendant guilty of premeditated murder by using his car to run the victim over before he and his friend were paid $500,000 (Dh1.8 million) in life insurance for the victim.
The court upheld a previous death verdict against the killer but overturned a three-year jail sentence against the second defendant by increasing it to 10 years.
The prosecution had accused the two defendants of devising a devious plan to make quick money by bringing their friend to the UAE from his home country and paying for his insurance. The court was told the first defendant forged documents to impersonate the victim’s brother in order to bring him to the UAE and then receive insurance money.
The court also order the two defendants to pay Dh150,000 diya (blood money) to the victim’s family, according to Alkhaleej newspaper, which did not identify the victim or the two defendants.
The supreme court’s verdict is final but the execution sentence has to be ratified by the President of the UAE, where executions are carried out by a firing squad.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
