UAE | Crime
Court of Appeal reduces life term
A woman almost fainted out of sheer joy when she heard that a court had reduced her son's life term to five years in jail on Tuesday.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:40 November 18, 2008
Dubai: A woman almost fainted out of sheer joy when she heard that a court had reduced her son's life term to five years in jail on Tuesday.
The woman's son had been charged with possessing and peddling drugs.
With utter astonishment and tears in her eyes, the Canadian-Iranian mother walked out of the court after Presiding Judge Mustafa Al Chennawi of the Dubai Court of Appeal reduced 25-year-old R.A.'s initial sentence of a life term, which is normally 25 years, to 5 years in jail.
R.A.'s lawyer Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi, of Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi Advocates and Legal Consultants, argued in his defence before the Court of Appeal, saying: "My client did not have any intention to sell drugs ... the Court of First Instance had earlier incriminated him of possessing marijuana with the intent of selling it. R.A. didn't have any intention to sell drugs. The informant from the anti-narcotics section, who had snitched on my client, isn't trustworthy because he didn't testify in court..."
Seconds after Presiding Judge Al Chennawi pronounced the verdict, the mother expressed her gratitude to the lawyer in an emotional manner, which captured the attention of everyone present before the Court of Appeal chamber 21. The mother, who is based in Canada, has travelled to and from Dubai nearly three times since her son's case had reached the Appeal Court.
The Dubai Court of First Instance had earlier found R.A. and his Iranian associate, D.M., guilty of possessing 7.58 grams of marijuana and with the intent of selling them. R.A. was awarded a life sentence, while D.M. was handed a 10-year jail term in view of his age - he is under 21.
The duo will be deported after serving their sentence.
During the pronouncement of the primary verdict, the mother had collapsed unconscious and paramedics had to be summoned from the hospital.
Al Shamsi defended before the Appeal's Court, saying his client was not arrested red-handed. he was "neither selling nor negotiating over the price of drugs", Al Shamsi said.
Denial
"An anti-narcotics officer had earlier testified that the drugs were confiscated from D.M.'s possession [from his car] ... My client has denied trafficking drugs and pleaded not guilty.
"My client gave the drugs to D.M. to consume them and not for peddling. Based on Article 32 of the Federal Penal Code of 1987, my client should be pronounced innocent of peddling drugs because he didn't realise or know that D.M. intended to sell or promote them," argued Al Shamsi who urged the Appeal's Court to revise the charge on his client to possessing drugs with the intent of distribution.
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday modified R.A.'s charge and reduced the punishment to five years in jail. Presiding Judge Al Chennawi confirmed the 10-year jail term of D.M. for possessing and trafficking drugs. The verdict of the Court of Appeal is still subject to a further appeal.
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