Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape and Robbery (including burglary) |
Sentence: |
15 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
2 |
Year Crime: |
2014 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Arab Emirates |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"A Lebanese national in his 40s was wrongly convicted in 2014 of raping an Indian woman and stealing Dhs30,000 ($8,168) from her in March 2014 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The man's prosecution was based on the woman's identification, because there was no physical or corroborating evidence linking him to the crime. The woman, who was in her 20s, claimed that the Lebanese man and another unidentified man offered her a ride to where she was living, and when they parked in Sharjah's Industrial Area 6 he asked her to please him sexually. She also said, "When I refused the two men beat me up and stole Dhs30,000 from my bag and then raped me." After his conviction the man was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Lebanese man appealed, arguing that the CCTV video of the location where the woman said the assault took place showed no incident occurred there that night, and that the medical examination of the woman showed no sign she had been raped, and no injuries and bruises on her body. The Lebanese man also asserted that he had an argument with the owner of the firm he worked for, who hired the woman to invent the rape story. Investigators found that the woman left the UAE after the man's trial. On April 11, 2016 the Sharjah Court of Appeal reversed the Lebanese man's conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis of insufficient evidence to prove his guilt. The man's lawyer told 7days after the court's ruling that the woman's rape and robbery was malicious and lacked proof. He also said: "My clients life was turned upside down for the past two years and after the acquittal, he feels like a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders." Note: On March 1, 2014 the exchange rate was 0.272253 Emirati Dirham per $US (per x-rates.com)." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by the alleged victim about a non-existent rape and robbery. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On April 11, 2016 the Sharjah Court of Appeal reversed the Lebanese man's conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis of insufficient evidence to prove his guilt." |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Rape verdict overturned in UAE, By Nawal Al Ramahi, 7Days.ae, April 14, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
https://7days.ae/rape-verdict-overturned-uae |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org