Court-appointed panel says defendant has ‘antisocial personality disorder with alcohol dependence’
Dubai: Nidal Eisa Abdullah, the man on death row for kidnapping, raping and killing eight-year-old Obaida Sedqi on May 20 has “antisocial personality disorder with alcohol dependence”, but was aware of his actions when he committed the crime, a psychiatric evaluation report has revealed.
The panel of psychiatrists tasked by the Dubai Appeal Court to evaluate Jordanian convict Abdullah’s mental health examined him between November 15 and 20. They sought to decide whether Abdullah was aware of his actions when he committed the crime. Abdullah was examined clinically by psychiatrists, according to the report, and the results have shown that Abdullah is a cognitive person and is capable of understanding and realising and has full insight of what he does.
In August, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted Abdullah and sentenced him to death for kidnapping eight-year-old Jordanian boy Obaida Sedqi from his father’s garage in Sharjah on May 20, before raping and killing him in Al Mamzar.
On Sunday, Abdullah’s court-appointed lawyer Ali Musabbeh Dahi requested presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif to obtain a copy of the examination report and a copy of his client’s criminal records in the UAE.
Dahi told the appellate court that Abdullah’s sanity has to be examined to be able to know whether he suffered any mental illness or instability at the time of the crime.
Speaking to Gulf News on Thursday, Dahi said: “The mental examination results have come out. I have already lodged an official request before the Public Prosecution to review the details. I will be discussing the details of the results during my defence on January 8. I visited the defendant last Thursday at his detention centre and today [December 22] and we had detailed discussions.”
The results of the psychiatric evaluation follow three consecutive hearings before the appellate court that had urged a special panel of psychiatrists at Rashid Hospital to expedite the process of examining Abdullah and providing the court with the report.
Abdullah had missed three consecutive hearings before presiding judge Al Sharif ordered jail wardens to use force and produce him in court. Since then he has not missed a hearing.
Earlier, Dahi told the court: “The defendant had requested the primary court to refer him to a psychiatrists’ committee to examine his sanity after claiming that he suffers a mental illness. The primary court rejected his request. The defence want the accused’s sanity to be examined to be able to know whether he suffered any mental illness or instability at the time the crime happened.”
Abdullah admitted before the appellate court that he killed Obaida, but denied kidnapping and raping him.
According to records, Abdullah kidnapped Obaida on May 20 from his father’s garage in Sharjah and then raped and killed him in Al Mamzar. He admitted before the primary court that he raped and murdered Obaida, but denied kidnapping the victim, who he said willingly sat with him in the car. He also admitted that he drank alcohol and drove under the influence.
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