Egyptian sentenced to death for Tamim murder

MURDER VICTIM: Suzanne Tamim was stabbed to death in her home in Dubai last July. (Getty Images)

Egyptian construction magnate Hesham Talaat Moustafa was sentenced to death on Thursday for the murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim in Dubai, court sources said.

Moustafa, former chairman of the Talaat Moustafa Group and a prominent politician, had been accused of paying security man Muhsen el-Sukkari $2m to stab Tamim to death at her house in Dubai in the UAE on July 28.

Sukkari was also sentenced to death in the case, and the men's files were referred to Egyptian religious authorities for review, as normal in capital cases in Egypt.

The arrest of Moustafa in September, after weeks of speculation about the case, hit Talaat Moustafa shares.

They closed on Wednesday at 5.03 Egyptian pounds ($0.89) per share, off a year low of 2.52 pounds hit in March.

The indictment had accused Sukkari of killing Tamim after tricking her into opening the door of her Dubai apartment by posing as a representative of the building owners. He then attacked her with a knife.

It accused Moustafa of participating in the crime through "incitement, agreement and assistance" in the killing.

The evidence included tape recordings of telephone calls between Moustafa and Sukkari, security video footage from the Dubai apartment and DNA from the bloodied clothes that Sukkari was accused of leaving close to the scene of the crime.

Moustafa, who was born in 1959, gave up the chairmanship of the Talaat Moustafa Group to his brother Tarek. Tamim, who died at the age of 30, rose to fame after winning the top prize in a television show in 1996. (Reuters)

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Justice? HA
Posted by n on Tuesday 26 May 2009 at 00:17 UAE time

Whether or not these two are the ones who succeeded in killing Tamim I find it Ironic that the verdict is so easily accepted by so many after a CLOSED court case with a Media ban. This is a case in which EVERYONE acknowledges the involvement of huge players in Middle Eastern politics and business... It seems that this trial killed 2 birds with one stone, rather than openly sought justice. Since everyone was saying how they distrust the Egyptian government to try this case, why does that change when the verdict comes out as guilty? If the government is KNOWN to play only the cards it wants, shouldn't we assume first that the government WANTED a guilty verdict?
I guess I just find it hard to be as happy about hanging a man for any reason, but even less so when the decision was made behind closed doors and only very particular and very few details were made public. There were so many people with the desire to get rid of both Tamim and Moustafa, this harsh death sentence after a closed case in a country like Egypt doesn't indicate justice to me.

To 'Knows the System'....
Posted by Vishal, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 24 May 2009 at 12:55 UAE time


....let's look at it from a moral point of view....he conspired to kill someone, therefore he deserves the exact retribution....end of story....

justice?
Posted by Mubin Mohammed, Manama, Bahrain on Sunday 24 May 2009 at 10:15 UAE time


sorry my friend...... i think it was injustice done to Hisham!!!

Justice?
Posted by Knows the system on Saturday 23 May 2009 at 10:48 UAE time


Who said that was justice? sometimes governments sacrifice some of their people to please the people. Why should Hisham get death for something he did not do? life in jail, yes, but death? certainly this is a show.

View all comments (15) >>

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM