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Driver gets 10-year term for drug abuse

According to court records, Al Ain police had caught Hamdi H. with hashish, and was referred to the Public Prosecution, which charged him with illegal possession of drugs with the intention to sell them. The prosecution referred him to the Criminal Court in Al Ain, which amended the charge to drug abuse, and found him guilty.

The court sentenced him to four years' imprisonment, including the detention period, in addition to Dh10,000 fine. Both the defendant and the Public Prosecution appealed the verdict before the Court of Appeal, which amended the verdict to 10 years in jail and Dh50,000 fine.

The defendant filed another appeal before the Supreme Court, and the public prosecution followed suit. The prosecution stated that the verdict was invalid because the panel of judges signed only the last page of the verdict.

The apex court agreed with the argument, and said that the judges had contradicted Article 219, which recommended the retrial of the suspect before a different judicial panel.

Al Ain Court of Appeal conducted a retrial of the case, and upheld the previous verdict. But the Public Prosecution filed another appeal demanding that the defendant be deported after serving the jail term. The apex court accepted this demand and ordered the defendant's deportation after the jail term.

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