Reprieve for Dubai cop in poppy seed case

Dubai - Upper court annuls 10-year jail term given to him on drug charges

The Court of Appeals has revoked 10-year jail term given to a police officer for possessing poppy seeds.
The Emirati officer, 28, who serves at the General Department of Punitive and Correctional Establishments of the Dubai Police, was sentenced by a lower court in January on the charge of possessing poppy seeds. He was then also ordered to pay Dh50,000 in fine.
 It is believed that he got the drugs from a Pakistani accomplice which he allegedly planned to frame a businessman.
 Two Pakistanis, aged 50 and 31, have been on trial in the case for being accomplices and possessing the drugs.
 One was sentenced to four years in jail to be followed by deportation, while the other was cleared.
 The appellate court upheld the four-year imprisonment of the second defendant.
The accused were arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Police after being tipped off they possessed drugs. A quantity of seeds weighing 929grammes was seized from them.
Another quantity weighing more than 140 grams allegedly found with the Pakistani man who was convicted.
The court has ordered the drugs be confiscated.
 
The ruling remains subject to be challenged at the Court of Cassation by the second defendant and the public prosecution.
 
mary@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Dubai