In April of last year I posted clips from a videotape smuggled out of the United Arab Emirates, showing a member of the royal family, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, brutally torturing a man with whips, electric cattle prods and wooden planks with protruding nails, then driving over him in the Sheikh’s Mercedes SUV. The victim was reportedly an Afghan grain merchant who lost a shipment belonging to Sheikh Issa, a mistake that cost the merchant an extended stay in the hospital.

Here’s that video (warning: graphic violence but not gore):

FLV Video

There’s an update today from the UAE, as the Sheikh is cleared of all charges in the “investigation.” Sheikh Issa explained that he was, uh, drugged by his accomplices, who then recorded the festivities so they could, uh, blackmail him. The blackmailers are now out of the country but they’ve been, uh, convicted in absentia.

The Sheikh says he was completely unaware of his actions while savagely beating someone with a cattle prod, shooting at him, and running him over with a car. Must have been some really good drugs.