An appeals court has upheld the acquittal of a Saudi man, who was on trial for his alleged involvement in the murder of a Bahraini man outside a nightclub.
Although the man was a passenger in the vehicle driven by his friend, who ran over and killed the victim, judges ruled that there was no evidence that he contributed to the crime.
His co-defendant was sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of 42-year-old Mohamed Al Enezi, a bystander, who he rammed his Land Cruiser into, while targeting two nightclub employees standing outside the facility.
The High Criminal Court also convicted him of attempting to murder the two Egyptian security guards, who he had fought with earlier on the night of the incident because they did not let him bring his own alcohol into the club.
After the passenger’s acquittal, the Public Prosecution lodged an appeal, requesting judges to overturn the defendant’s acquittal and hold him accountable for his alleged role in the murder.
The Supreme Criminal Appeals Court upheld the previous ruling, stating that there was no way to prove if the Saudi man was complicit in the crime.
The man behind the wheel, who was sentenced for life, has not been imprisoned yet as he managed to escape immediately after the incident. The 24-year-old remains at large and an international arrest warrant has been issued to apprehend and extradite him.
The GDN earlier reported that the Bahraini victim was hurtled 10 metres forward, across a road and into a sandy area near the hotel, after he was hit by the car. He tragically died of skull fractures and internal bleeding in his brain.
Earlier that night, the two Saudis arrived at the nightclub and entered into a heated argument with the Egyptian security guards. A few hours after the fight, the convict reportedly came back to the hotel to give the guards a piece of his mind. It appeared that he did not intend to hit Mr Al Enezi with his vehicle, but was instead targeting the hotel employees, the court earlier heard.
The collision sent the late Mr Al Enezi flying through the air, and left him with catastrophic injuries.
One of the Egyptians suffered some fractures in the auto assault, and reportedly collapsed to the ground.
Police and an ambulance crew arrived promptly at the scene but it was too late to save the Bahraini.
Investigations revealed that the accused men dashed to another hotel in which they were staying, changed their clothes and checked out before heading back to Saudi Arabia via the King Fahad Causeway.
The co-defendant, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat during the horrific incident, returned to Bahrain three weeks later when he was arrested and put on trial.
He was ultimately acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges, and was able to walk free.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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