Dubai court clears woman chemist in drugs case

Dubai - She pleaded not guilty all along and told the court the medically-controlled pills were meant for research-related purposes.

The Dubai Court of Appeals has cleared a woman chemist of the charge of smuggling drugs for trafficking; quashing a primary ruling that had sentenced her to seven years in jail.
Apart from jail, the 37-year-old Chinese woman had been asked to pay a fine of Dh50,000 by the Court of First Instance. It had also ordered her deportation after the jail term.
But the appellate court acquitted her of the charge, overturning the primary court's verdict after the defendant stoutly refuted the charges and her lawyer presented evidence that she had been carrying the pills for research.
She pleaded not guilty all along and told the court the medically-controlled pills were meant for research-related purposes.
Prosecutors accused her of smuggling more than 400 psychotropic tablets after she was arrested at the Dubai International Airport - where she had a transit stop early this year.
Her defense lawyer pleaded that his client was innocent. As part of his arguments in court, he presented the judges' bench with certificates and documents sustaining her claims that she was a researcher in the pharmaceutical industry. He also produced a document stating that his client had been certified to carry the quantity of pills she possessed in the countries where she usually flew to work on her research.
The ruling may still be challenged by the public prosecution before the Court of Cassation.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai