• Home

Retrial of accused in drug case ordered

The apex court upheld the plea of the accused Othman Y. that the search procedures adopted were invalid in the absence of permission from the public prosecution.

The prosecution had accused Othman of possessing hashish and demanded that he be penalised according to Federal Penal Code No. 14/95.

The Al Ain Shariah Criminal Court found Othman guilty, and sentenced him to four years in jail, effective from the date of arrest, to be followed by deportation, and ordered the confiscation of the contraband.

The defendant contested the verdict at the Al Ain Shariah Criminal Court of Appeal, which dismissed his petition, and confirmed the judgment of the lower court. The accused then approached the Supreme Federal Court. Likewise, the prosecution demanded the rejection of the convict's plea.

In his plea, Othman claimed the search, arrest, and urine sample-taking procedures to be void for lacking the prosecutor's permission. Relying on Articles 45 and 51 of the Federal Punitive Procedures Code, the apex court said that the judicial officer was not allowed to search a convict unless he had a prosecutor's permission and enough evidence, or if the accused was caught red-handed.

The prosecution's permission was issued 30 minutes after the search, the court noted. Moreover, the accused had confessed to hashish abuse in Al Boraimi area in neighbouring Oman, outside the UAE, ten days before arrest.

• UAE