Court cancels life term of Arab caught with drug-dealer friend

Abu Dhabi - Court documents stated that the man and his friend, an alleged drug dealer, were caught promoting drugs in the emirate.

An expat, who had earlier been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of possessing and dealing drugs, has been acquitted on appeal. The Federal Appeal Court in Abu Dhabi cancelled earlier rulings by lower courts and cleared the Arab man of the charges.
Court documents stated that the man and his friend, an alleged drug dealer, were caught promoting drugs in the emirate. They were both in a car when they were arrested.
The police raided the first defendant's house in Al Ain and recovered a large quantity of narcotics and tramadol. Other drugs were also found in his car. The police, however, did not find any drugs at his friend's home.
Al Ain Criminal Court of First Instance and the appellate court found them guilty and sentenced them to life in prison. They were also fined Dh200,000.
The second defendant challenged the ruling at the Federal Appeal Court, claiming he was wrongly convicted.
His lawyer, Ali Al Hammadi, had argued that there was no evidence that his client possessed or dealt drugs. "The man was wrongly accused of drug dealing because he was found with a drug dealer, during the time of the arrest," said the lawyer.
"He had gone to meet his friend and was surprised when the police arrested him, too. He didn't even know that his friend had drugs in his car."
The lawyer said his client was "illegally arrested" because the arrest warrant the police had was only for the first defendant.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Abu Dhabi