Dubai: A man has escaped the death penalty after being cleared of possessing 154g of cocaine for trading purposes.
The 31-year-old British man, H.A. had pleaded not guilty.
“I did not possess the drug at all,” said H.A. before the court.
Drug enforcement officers arrested H.A. during a sting operation in the car park of a luxury hotel. Drugs prosecutors had asked for H.A. to be handed the death sentence. His lawyer argued that law enforcement procedures had been carried out unlawfully against the suspect.
The court acquitted the suspect after deciding there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
An anti-narcotics police captain testified the suspect was caught in a sting operation in May 2013.
“An informant alerted Dubai Police’s anti-narcotics department that the defendant possessed cocaine and intended to sell it for Dh20,000. We provided the informant with police money that we photocopied to use as evidence against the suspect in court. The defendant agreed to meet the informant in the parking lot of a hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road. An anti-narcotics team arrested the defendant as soon as the informant signalled to them that the deal was sealed. On searching the Briton, police seized 11 plastic bags from his wallet. More of the drug was also found inside his flat at Jumeirah Lakes Towers,” the captain said.
A policeman said that the suspect admitted to him during questioning that an Emirati suspect called T. had asked him to sell the drug.
“When I questioned him, he alleged that he had got the drug from T. and intended to sell it for Dh20,000,” the policeman told prosecutors.
According to records, the so-called T. remains at large.
Tuesday ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
