Son jailed in UAE for ‘spying’, mom waits

Kochi: Shahubanath Beevi, mother of Shihani Meera Sahib Jamal Mohammed, may have to wait till 2025 to see her son who is presently serving a 10- year jail term in UAE since 2015 for allegedly spying for the Indian government— after the Centre told the Kerala High Court that its Embassy there has done all it can.

Her son was awarded a 10-year jail term in August 2015 and the sentence was upheld by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal and therefore, he would be released in September 2025, only after which he will be deported back to India, the Centre has told the Kerala HC.

The Centre has said that the Indian Embassy in UAE had requested the local authorities to consider the case sympathetically and pardon the sentence of Mohammed, however any such relief was denied. As there was nothing more the Embassy could do and recommended that it be closed, the Centre has said. The Central government has also told the court that the emails sent to the Embassy for filing a mercy petition on behalf of Mohammed have been forwarded to the concerned local authorities for their sympathetic consideration. -(PTI)