Women denied release after 15 years in jail

A Ukrainian woman yesterday lost her petition for early release from jail, where she has been serving a life sentence for premeditatedly murdering a prostitute in 1996. The Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday rejected the 43-year-old petitioner Tatiana A.Y's request for early release from jail based on good behaviour after 15 years in jail. The petitioner was 28 years old at the time when she and a man killed the 27-year-old Uzbek prostitute, J.K, and robbed her money from her flat in Al Rifaa in 1996. "The court refused the petitioner's plea for an early release," said the presiding judge. The reasons for the rejection were not revealed. The petitioner appeared in pink prison attire with head scarf before the bench of four judges when she heard the decision in courtroom four. Her accomplice, Y.V, was sentenced to death in 1998 and remains at large. Records did not identify his age or nationality. Dubai prosecutors said Y.V and the petitioner premeditatedly murdered J.K when they jointly bludgeoned her skull with an iron lever and stole her money and jewellery.