Tuesday, Sep 15, 2015
Dubai: A lawyer argued in court on Tuesday that his client, a businesswoman, is being maliciously accused of adultery by her husband to coerce her to drop her divorce case.
The Emirati businesswoman and her countryman had denied committing adultery and having sex outside marriage when they pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court.
“My client’s husband lodged an adultery case and alleged that his wife had been cheating on him with an unknown man out of malice. There is a divorce case between the couple at Dubai Sharia Court … the claimant lodged this malevolent case to push my client to waive her right to maintenance,” lawyer Saeed Al Gailani argued before the presiding judge in courtroom 11.
The woman suspect had earlier claimed in court that her husband, from whom she is seeking a divorce, attempted to extort more than Dh10 million from her wealthy family to waive an adultery complaint against her.
Records said the Emirati husband had lodged his police complaint accusing his wife, currently living separately, of committing adultery while the divorce case was being heard by the Dubai Sharia Court.
Al Gailani argued that law enforcement officers did not carry out serious inquiries about the husband’s claim that his wife had been having unmarried sex in the strange man’s villa.
“When he reported the matter to the police, he did not have any details about what had been taking place in the villa. He did not even know the man’s identity. My client is a well-known businesswoman, and she was having a business meeting with the male suspect, who is her client. If the husband wanted to have his wife caught red-handed, then he should have at least waited for some time and not reported the matter to police so quickly. Obviously, he complained out of malevolence. Besides, police obtained prosecutors’ order to raid the villa over the phone and it should have happened in writing,” he argued.
Meanwhile lawyer Eisa Bin Haidar contended that law enforcement procedures were carried out unlawfully and improperly.
“Police reports and primary interrogations were based on the husband’s verbal claims only. The case file lacks any substantial evidence that is decisive enough to accuse the suspects of committing adultery. Dubai Police’s forensic laboratory’s report is full of contradictions … it was mentioned that two swabs were taken from the man and one from the woman. Later on it was discovered that there was no swab taken from the woman. This concludes that the report is void. We ask the court to dismiss the husband’s civil lawsuit and acquit the suspects,” argued Bin Haidar.
The husband is seeking Dh21,000 in temporary civil compensation to be paid by the suspects.
Records said the claimant had monitored his wife’s movements before filing the police complaint.
Dubai Police then obtained prosecutors’ permission and raided a house in Mirdif where the woman was caught with an Emirati man.
When they were questioned by prosecutors, the woman and man claimed they had a business relationship and did not have sex.
According to records, the woman runs her own business and met the man at an exhibition where they agreed to become business partners.
The woman claimed that the allegations levelled by her husband were “fabricated and malicious”. She alleged that he had asked for Dh10 million to drop the complaint.
A ruling will be heard next month.
By Bassam Zaza Legal and Court Correspondent
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
