Former Deyaar CEO gets bail, released from Dubai jail

Former Deyaar CEO Zack Shahin has been released on bail pending trial after more than four years in a Dubai jail, a US Embassy official said on Friday.

Shahin was met by an American consular officer upon his release late on Thursday night, embassy spokesman Jeffrey Ladenson told The Associated Press.

“We urge that the prosecution be concluded in a timely and transparent fashion,” Ladenson told the newswire.

Shahin, detained under suspicion of corruption as part of a clampdown by authorities on financial wrongdoing n 2008, was arrested over alleged embezzlement by executives at Deyaar.

He later became the target of other investigations into alleged fiscal wrongdoing at the company.

The businessman, who has denied any improprieties, was one of several expatriates jailed in Dubai on hunger strike in protest against the lengthy prison sentences given to them for financial crimes.

After more than four years in jail awaiting trial, Shahin began going without food on May 14 to draw attention to his case.

Shahin began eating again last week after authorities agreed to set bail for his release.

He was required to post AED5m ($1.4m) bail and surrender his passport along with that of a guarantor to secure his pre-trial release.