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Death penalty for 2 drug dealers quashed in UAE

Abu Dhabi - Court documents stated that the 54-year-old British mechanic was caught red-handed in March 2018.

Two men convicted of dealing in heroin have had their death sentences overturned by the UAE’s top court. The UAE Supreme Court ordered that the appellate court hold a fresh hearing in the case. The Briton and Pakistani were earlier found guilty of possessing and selling drugs.

Court documents stated that the 54-year-old British mechanic was caught red-handed in March 2018 while selling 2kg of heroin worth $30,000 (Dh110,000) to an undercover policeman.

During interrogation, the Briton had reportedly confessed to selling heroin, claiming he was dealing drugs for the first time. “I only did it because I needed the money to buy a return ticket to the UK after the one I had booked expired,” the defendant told investigators.

The man told the officer that he was stranded in Oman when he called a friend back in the UK, asking for some cash. He said his friend told him to go to Dubai for a “quick job” for $1,000 (Dh3,670).

When he reached Dubai, his friend in the UK reportedly told him that a Pakistani national would meet him to give him “some pocket money and a package”.

The man said his friend informed him that another man — the ‘drug buyer’ — would be collecting the package. The Briton and his Pakistani accomplice were arrested on March 19, 2018, as they handed over the drug stash to the undercover officer.

The police later arrested two other Asian men, who were charged with drug smuggling.

‘Procedural errors’

In May 2019, the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance sentenced the Briton and the Pakistani to death. The two other men were cleared of charges.

Legal consultant Dr Hasan Elhais, who represented the Briton, said there were “procedural errors” in the case. He said one of the errors was the arrest procedure, while the other was that the “verdict did not clarify whether the decision was unanimous, which is mandatory in passing a death penalty”.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com