Junaid Nawaz Lal Nawaz, a Pakistani national, was sentenced to death by the Al Ain Court of First Instance in the United Arab Emirates on May 29, 2001, after the court found him guilty of murder in the deaths of five taxi drivers. The drivers were poisoned and robbed during a two-week series in the summer of 2000, between June 21 and July 4, in the suburbs of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Three more drivers were poisoned in the same series and survived. After his arrest he confessed to poisoning and robbing all eight men, Gulf News reported, and he told investigators that he had acted alone.
His appeal failed. In a ruling reported by Gulf News on March 1, 2004, the Federal High Court rejected the appeal, confirmed the death sentence and referred it to the Presidential Court for approval, after which, the paper said, he would be executed.
Gulf News named the five men who died as Mulazim Hussain Ghulam, Zarmulla Khan, Gul Shameer Khan, Aidaz Gul Khan and Khajir Khan Sawar Khan. The paper described all five as Pakistani taxi drivers. Mulazim Hussain Ghulam, Zarmulla Khan and Gul Shameer Khan came from Waziristan, a tribal area in what the paper called Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. Aidaz Gul Khan and Khajir Khan Sawar Khan held Pakistani passports but were originally Afghan citizens from Khost, in Paktia province in Afghanistan.
The men's ages, how long they had worked in the Emirates and the families they left behind are not on record.
Three other drivers were poisoned and lived. Two of them later identified Nawaz as the man who had poisoned them.
While the poisonings went on, many taxi drivers in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain refused to take passengers to remote areas, and some would not carry anyone traveling alone, Gulf News reported, because they feared for their lives. Until the arrest, some drivers kept metal rods, clubs and other tools in their cars to protect themselves.
The fear fed rumors that a gang of three men was targeting taxi drivers. After his arrest Nawaz said that he had committed the crimes alone and had no accomplice.
The 2004 Gulf News report dates his arrest to July 2001. The same report places the poisonings in June and July 2000 and his death sentence in May 2001, so the year given for the arrest does not fit the rest of its timeline, and the exact date of the arrest has not been reported.
After he was detained he confessed to poisoning and robbing eight taxi drivers between June 21 and July 4, 2000. He also admitted that he was jobless and that he had absconded from his employers. His age, his home district in Pakistan and the date he came to the Emirates have not been reported.
The case was heard by the Al Ain Court of First Instance. According to a summary of the court's ruling, Nawaz testified at his first hearing that he had intended to kill the drivers and rob them of their money.
On May 29, 2001, the court found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. He also faced charges of adultery and of absconding from his employers. The basis of the adultery charge has not been reported, nor has whether separate counts were brought over the three drivers who survived.
Nawaz appealed against the death sentence in August 2001. On appeal he changed his account. He now said that he had not meant to kill anyone and had wanted only to make the drivers lose consciousness so that he could rob them. On the same day, the Federal Public Prosecutor lodged a counter-appeal and pressed for the death sentence to stand.
He also claimed that he was mentally unfit to stand trial. The appeal court dismissed that claim and held that he had intended to carry out the killings.
The Federal High Court rejected his appeal on a Saturday, according to the Gulf News report published on March 1, 2004, and confirmed the sentence. The ruling stated that the nature of the crime did not allow him to escape the penalty by paying blood money to the victims' families. The court referred the confirmed sentence to the Presidential Court for approval, and the paper reported that he would be executed once that approval was given.
As of March 2004, the death sentence had been confirmed on appeal and was awaiting approval by the Presidential Court. Whether it was approved or carried out has not been reported.
June 21 to July 4, 2000: eight taxi drivers are poisoned and robbed in the suburbs of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain; five die and three survive.
2000: rumors of a three-man gang spread among drivers, many of whom refuse fares to remote areas or lone passengers.
After his arrest: Junaid Nawaz Lal Nawaz confesses to poisoning and robbing all eight drivers and says he acted alone; two surviving drivers identify him.
May 29, 2001: the Al Ain Court of First Instance finds him guilty of murder and sentences him to death; he also faces charges of adultery and absconding from his employers.
August 2001: he appeals, saying he meant only to make the drivers unconscious; the Federal Public Prosecutor files a counter-appeal the same day seeking the death sentence.
March 1, 2004: Gulf News reports that the Federal High Court has rejected his appeal, confirmed the death sentence, ruled out blood money and referred the sentence to the Presidential Court for approval.