Al Reem murder accused is not mentally ill, court hears

ABU DHABI // A medical report proves that the woman accused of murdering an American teacher on Reem Island was aware of and responsible for her actions, prosecutors told the Federal Supreme Court on Monday.

Alaa Al Hashemi, 30, an Emirati, is accused of stabbing to death Ibolya Ryan, 47, a mother of three, last December in a toilet cubicle in Boutik Mall.

The defendant had previously claimed she had a mental illness where she would see “ghost-like people” and therefore was not responsible for her actions.

Judge Falah Al Hajeri had ordered she be sent to a hospital for a full mental examination.

“The summary of the report states that the defendant is responsible for her actions, and that she was aware of and had the will to commit the crime, and no mental or emotional issue was found,” he said on Monday.

Al Hashemi, who was tearful at times during the hearing, told the court she rejected the results and insisted that she sometimes acted without realising what she is doing.

“I am not comfortable with the results,” she said. “The doctors sat with me for 10 minutes only and signed my release. What they have is not true.”

The prosecution said the defendant’s mind was “filled with terrorist thoughts, which she spreads”.

“She looked at online websites where she supported terrorist groups and she had done her research by listening to lectures of known terrorists, like Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, and watching videos and photos of slaughter and murder that other terrorists practice before attempting her criminal act.

“All this knowledge has caused her to become a supporter to these ideals,” he said.

“The defendant carried a knife and chose the toilet as her crime scene, pretended she needed help and attacked the victim.

“The stories witnesses told in court were like a horror movie and the crime scene looked like 10 people had been brutally killed.”

He said that before attempting her criminal act, Al Hashemi had gone in a taxi to the mall to inspect it after her husband had been arrested.

The reasons for his arrest were not revealed in court.

The same taxi then took her to an apartment block on the Corniche where she knocked on several doors to identify whether the residents were expatriates or not.

It was during this visit that she chanced upon the flat of an American doctor whose wife opened the door to her.

After she had killed Ryan, the court heard, she went to the doctor’s apartment and placed a homemade bomb outside the door. The device, however, failed to detonate.

The prosecutor also said a forensic report showed that Ryan had been stabbed numerous times in her chest, causing her right lung to puncture, which lead to her death.

Blood traces retrieved from the steering wheel of Al Hashemi’s car also matched Ryan’s blood, he said.

Fingerprints found on the toilet door handle in the mall and on the bomb matched those of the defendant.

The prosecutor said Al Hash-emi had “given her own money as donations to Al Qaeda in Yemen and created a bomb to attempt to murder another person”.

Al Hashemi asked the court for her six children to be allowed to visit her in prison, saying her eldest was 8 years old and her youngest was 10 months old. She said she had seen them only once since her arrest.

Judge Al Hajeri asked the court to ensure her request was met.

The case was adjourned to June 8 when Al Hashemi’s lawyer will present his arguments.

alkhoori@thenational.ae