UAE rape case appeal adjourned until Feb 3: lawyer

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

DUBAI (AFP) — An appeal hearing on Sunday in the case of two Emiratis convicted of raping a French-Swiss teenager was adjourned until February 3 because the defendants failed to appear in court, the boy's lawyer said.

"The judge adjourned the case until February 3 due to the absence of the defendants in court," Hussein al-Jaziri told AFP, without stating the reason for their absence.

The defence wants the 15-year jail sentences handed down to the two United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationals on December 12 to be quashed. A third defendant is being tried in a juvenile court.

Prosecutors have demanded the maximum punishment, which could mean the death penalty.

The European teenager raped by the Emiratis, including an HIV positive assailant, has been found...