Federal Supreme Court finds Alaa Bader Al Hashemi guilty of the premeditated murder of American schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan inside the washroom of a mall on Reem Island.
Abu Dhabi – Alaa Bader Al Hashemi, known by her moniker ‘Reem Island Ghost’, was calm when the presiding judge at the Federal Supreme Court sentenced her to death on Monday morning.
The State Security Circuit found her guilty of the premeditated murder of American schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan inside the washroom of a mall on Reem Island in Abu Dhabi on December 1 last year.
She also attempted to kill a US family of Arab descent in a building in Abu Dhabi by planting a handmade bomb in front of their apartment. She was also found guilty of setting up and operating a website to promote terror ideologies and posted information that harmed the stature of the country. Additionally, she funded Al Qaeda in Yemen.
The almost three-month long trial began on March 22.
Just over an hour after fleeing from the Boutik Mall after stabbing Ryan to death, Al Hashemi planted a primitive bomb outside the house of an Arab-American physician in Corniche area. The doctor’s son alerted the police on finding the bomb while going for Maghrib prayer.
Al Hashemi was arrested within 48 hours after the crime was reported. The Ministry of Interior released a video showing the search and arrest procedures adopted by the police in arresting her from her house. The video also showed the bloodstained steering wheel of Al Hashemi’s car, a black suitcase, four types of kitchen knives, petrol cans, matches and other articles used to make the crude bomb.
Unappealable verdict
The death penalty is final and cannot be challenged, according to Zayed Al Shamsi, chairman of the Emirates Lawyers and Jurists Association. “Verdicts pronounced by the State Security Circuit of the Federal Supreme Court are final and incontestable. Verdicts will be executed immediately after being pronounced,” he noted.
The execution of the death penalty in the UAE is carried out by the firing squad. Its timing and form will be left to the executive authority after being signed by the President, he explained.
In cases of murder, death penalties can be delayed till the blood heirs of the convict become adults. However, in terror cases, no such leniency is shown.
