site.btaForeign Minister Zaharieva Meets with UAE Ministers of Justice, Infrastructure Development

Dubai, April 11 (BTA) - On the second day of her working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva met with Minister of Justice Sultan bin Saeed Al Badi and with Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Infrastructure Development, the Foreign Ministry reported Wednesday.

Zaharieva and the Minister of Justice agreed that working groups from their countries' justice ministries will prepare a draft agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal cases. One of the important aspects of this document is the opportunity to extradite citizens with a sentence already in force or charged with a publicly prosecutable offence. "We expect to cooperate with Bulgaria's Justice Ministry and Foreign Ministry so that we can conclude bilateral agreements," Sultan Al Badi said.

At present there are no Bulgarian nationals sentenced to imprisonment in the UAE. Two Bulgarian women have been detained for pickpocketing. In December 2017, Emir of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum pardoned two Bulgarians with life sentences for drug dealing and they are already in Bulgaria, following 12 years of imprisonment at the central prison in Dubai.

Zaharieva acquainted her host with the organization of the Bulgarian judicial system and the mechanisms for magistrates' career development. Sultan Al Badi presented the UAE's legislative initiatives for more effective justice and plans for the introduction of a single electronic system for case distribution, as part of a long-term strategy for the judicial system's development.

At her meeting with the Minister of Infrastructure Development, Zaharieva said that cooperation should be encouraged so as to attract Bulgarian construction companies and engineers to the UAE. In the last years Bulgaria has developed its infrastructure a lot, she added.

Zaharieva and her host discussed the opportunities for cooperation, particularly in the area of renewable energy sources and the organization of a meeting between Bulgarian companies and the executors of big infrastructure projects in the UAE.

Abdullah Al Nuaimi said that Bulgarians are very popular in Northern Africa and have a big contribution to this region's development. He expressed the hope that the Bulgarian construction business will also participate in the UAE's market.