Posted by
InchDeep on Monday, April 28, 2008 6:35:34 PM
Dubai: A court will
dispatch an expert to examine the value of an onyx stone, the owner of
which is serving a six-month imprisonment for promoting it for Dh1.8
billion because it is bulletproof.
The Dubai Court of
Appeal on Monday approved the assigning of an expert from Dubai
police's criminal laboratory or any concerned authority to examine the
confiscated onyx stone and assess its value to decide whether it
contains any special characteristics which makes it bulletproof.
The Public Prosecution
charged the 52-year-old Yemeni dealer with attempted swindling and
trying to con people by posting a newspaper advertisement in which he
promoted the bulletproof onyx stone for Dh1.8 billion.
His lawyer Saeed Al
Ghailani, of Saeed Al Ghailani Advocates and Legal Consultants, earlier
asked the Court of Appeal judge to assign a physics expert or Dubai
police's criminal laboratory to test the stone and decide whether it
contains any electromagnetic powers which diverts the bullet before it
hits the stone wearer.
Al Ghailani also asked the court to acquit his client (Q.M.) and dismiss the uncorroborated evidence.
"I am willing to prove
to the world that it's a bulletproof onyx stone... I am ready to face a
death sentence if that's what will take me to prove that the stone is
doubtlessly bulletproof... I didn't con anybody out of money, but the
police tricked me and filed a malicious case against me," the accused,
Q.M., told the Court of Appeal earlier.
Speaking to the judge, the Yemeni said: "I ask the court to try the stone in front of the whole world."
The Court of
Misdemeanour earlier sentenced him to six months in jail followed by
deportation after he was found guilty of attempted swindling.
He has denied
attempted swindling and trying to con people by posting a newspaper
advertisement in which he promoted the bulletproof onyx stone for Dh1.8
billion, as charged by the Public Prosecution.
During the hearing, the accused said the stone proved bulletproof when he tried it four times on sheep.
"I
had a stall at Global Village where I displayed precious stones,
including the onyx. I asked the police to try the stone before
confiscating it and arresting me. They refused. I brought it with me
from Yemen."
Gulfnews.
UPDATE:
Vendor of 'bullet-proof' stone gets bail
Mary Nammour (Staff Reporter)
28 April 2008
DUBAI
- The Dubai Court of Appeal on April28 granted bail to Yemeni vendor
Q.M., who was arrested during the Dubai Shopping Festival last year for
trying to con people by offering to sell an onyx stone claiming it had
special powers, upon depositing his passport.
Presiding
Judge Mostapha Chinawi, however, turned down defence lawyer Saeed Al
Ghailani's plea to assign foreign experts to test the stone.
The judge postponed the hearing to May 12 to review the report of the Dubai Municipality.
Al Ghailani told the court that his client, Q.M., had spent almost the entire jail sentence ordered by the Court of Misdemeanour and it was time he was released.
Khaleej Times Online.