Dubai: A court has acquitted a man of giving heroin to a prisoner who died of a suspected overdose, after his lawyer said his client had been framed.
The Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday acquitted the 22-year-old Emirati employee, A.A., of the charge of making heroin available to the Emirati prisoner, A.M., by smuggling the drug into the detention centre.
A.A.'s advocate Saeed Al Ghailani rejected the prosecutors' allegation his client made heroin available to A.M., who died of a suspected overdose in Al Qusais Police Station.
"The accusation was groundless because there was no medical report which confirmed A.M. died of a heroin overdose or any other drug, or if he suffered any other illness which led to his death. The anti-narcotics officers beat up my client and threatened him, then he was forced to confess that he smuggled the heroin to A.M. under intimidation. Law enforcement procedures were unlawfully carried out against A.A.," said Al Ghailani.
"I am not guilty. I didn't smuggle drugs into the prison or consume morphine," said the 22-year-old suspect when he defended himself in court.
An Emirati anti-narcotics second lieutenant testified an informant alerted the police that the defendant smuggled drugs into the centre, which resulted in A.M.'s death.
"A.A. told prosecutors anti-narcotics officers tortured him to admit a crime which he didn't commit. The prosecutor, who questioned A.A., failed to refer him for a medical check-up although the torture signs still showed on his body. My client also submitted medical reports confirming that he takes morphine for medical purposes," said Al Ghailani.
