Longest serving prisoner in Dubai is a NRI

Dubai, Nov 20: Paul George, a NRI, who burnt to death nine people 21 years ago is the longest serving prisoner at the Dubai Central Jail.

Mr George, a carpenter, was 39 when he was arrested for the crime in which two Pakistani families including seven children perished. He has been on death row ever since. It is said that he committed the crime under the influence of alcohol.

Mr George claims he was pardoned by the victims' families in 1996, but he said that did not help him get out of jail. ''My government is not helping me. They always say they are working to get me out, but nothing has been done yet. My son is in contact with the Indian Consulate,'' he was quoted by the Gulf News as saying.

The carpenter, now 60, came to Dubai in 1979 to work in his brother's furniture shop leaving his 10-year-old daughter and his three-year-old son at home.

Now his daughter, whom he did not see until 2000, lives in nearby Ajman emirate. His son, an engineer, who pleads for his release, works in Dubai.

UNI