A jobless man who said an Uzbekistani sex worker he killed after she allegedly stole Dh6,000 from him deserved to die, has had his death sentence upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The Court of First Instance found the 30-year-old Pakistani man guilty of murdering the prostitute by slitting her throat, and a sentence of capital punishment was meted out in February. On Wednesday, the killer lost his appeal aimed at sparing his life, though the verdict remains subject to appeal within 30 days at the Cassation Court. The accused had been on trial on premeditated murder and theft charges over the incident which happened in April last year.
The Public Prosecution accused the Pakistani of having planned the murder by purchasing a knife with which he slit the prostitute’s throat, stabbing her three times.
The police tracked down the defendant by checking the victim’s last phone calls.
The defendant told the prosecutor that he had known the prostitute for about three months and that he used to have sex with her for Dh100 in her flat in Al Muttaina in Muraqqabat, and used to drink liquor with her.
Amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of administrative responsibility, according to which responsibility for crimes and offenses relating to the promotion of the cult of violence, cruelty and pornography toughens, came into force in Uzbekistan.
The Law on amendments to these codes was signed by President Islam Karimov. The document was adopted by the Legislative (lower) chamber of the Uzbek parliament on March 6 and approved by the Senate on March 23.
Amendments made to two Codes increase the responsibility for the manufacture, importation, distribution, promotion and demonstration of pornographic materials, as well as impose responsibility for similar actions in respect of production, which promotes a cult of violence or cruelty.