A court in the United Arab Emirates has acquitted the brother of the country's president on charges of torturing a grain merchant in 2004.

Although a video recording was produced showing Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan torturing the merchant, the court accepted the sheikh's statement that he had been under the influence of drugs at the time. He said the drugs had been given to him before the incident by two business partners, who had then recorded the video so they could extort money from him.

The video surfaced in April 2009, on United States television. In it, the sheikh was seen hitting the grain merchant with an electric cattle prod, a plank of wood and a whip. After doing this, he threw salt in the wounds and then drove over his victim in a car.

The incident was an embarrassment to the UAE at a time when it was trying to improve its rights image following international criticism over its treatment of blue-collar workers.