Appeal opens in UAE rape case after victim found clear of AIDS

An appeal hearing was held today in the case of two Emiratis convicted last year of raping a French-Swiss teenager...

An appeal hearing was held today in the case of two Emiratis convicted last year of raping a French-Swiss teenager, the boy’s lawyer said, after the victim was found to be clear of the AIDS virus.

The court in Dubai handled preliminary details before the judge adjourned the case until January 27 to allow the defence more time to prepare its case, Hussein al-Jaziri told AFP by telephone. 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 to be clear of the sexually transmittable disease, Jaziri said yesterday.

“Medical tests have proven that he did not contract the AIDS infection,” he told AFP. “It is exactly six months since he was attacked,” the lawyer said, adding that the teenager’s mother had informed him of the test result by phone. “She was crying with joy.”