Sharjah: An inadvertent death threat has landed an Iraqi man in trouble after he was involved in a dispute with a friend over a financial issue. During a verbal altercation, the accused reportedly used the term “Aktulak”, which when translated into English means ‘kill you’ while in Iraqi dialect, it was contended that it meant physical assault. Following a complaint, Sharjah Criminal Court initially sentenced the Iraqi man to three years in jail, to be followed by deportation. Later, following a retrial, the accused was sentenced to a year in jail with the deportation order being withdrawn.
The accused was in Iraq when the victim lodged a complaint with Sharjah Criminal Court. The victim, in his 50s, told the court that he had received a phone call from his friend in Iraq who had issued the threat during the tele cconversation.
After hearing the testimony of the claimant and reviewing all evidence, the court issued the verdict to the accused in absentia.
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However, the verdict left the complainant shocked and he withdrew the case and told the judge that the accused was his friend and he did not want to harm him. When the accused came to the UAE from Iraq to solve the dispute, he was arrested at the airport upon arrival. He was later released on bail. A retrial was conducted after a truce between the two parties and the court issued a revised verdict of one year’s jail sentence. The earlier verdict was suspended and the deportation order withdrawn.