Dubai: A man has been acquitted of possessing methamphetamine after his lawyer convinced the court that drug enforcement officers commissioned a prostitute to lure him to have sex with her for drugs.
The Egyptian, A.Z., communicated with a purported prostitute through social media networks where she offered to have sex with clients for drugs in April.
Drug enforcement officers seized 0.41gm of methamphetamine, according to records, which they claimed to be for A.Z., who was apprehended in front of a hotel where he was supposed to have agreed to meet the sex worker on Shaikh Zayed Road.
Prosecutors charged the employee with possessing a mind-altering substance and referred him to the Dubai Misdemeanours Court where he pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer Saeed Al Gailani contended in court that his client had been framed.
“Since his arrest, my client has repeatedly and persistently denied possessing any banned substances. Drug enforcement officers framed him when they asked a prostitute to seduce him through the social media networks … she advertised that she was willing to have sex with any man who provides her with drugs. A.Z. did not posses any drugs but the tempting offer encouraged him to meet her,” contended Al Gailani.
The suspect had strongly refuted possessing or consuming drugs when he defended himself in court.
An anti-narcotics police lieutenant claimed to prosecutors that an informant alerted them that A.Z. possessed and consumed illegal substances.
“The suspect was spotted throwing away a tiny amount of a substance when police tried to arrest him. It turned out to be methamphetamine … he resisted arrest as well although we had prosecutors’ search and arrest warrant,” claimed the lieutenant.
“After my client agreed to meet up the supposed sex worker, she turned out to be a police informant. A prosecution witness confirmed that she was an informant and that she had cooperated with law enforcement officers to have my client arrested in a sting operation. Law enforcement procedures were carried out unlawfully and improperly against A.Z., who was detained in an illegal manner. The sex worker did a wrong thing when she enticed my client to have sex with her for drugs. If the court agrees on what happened [how the prostitute lured my client and he was arrested illegally], then all sex workers in town will be recruited to seduce men and invite them to have sex for drugs. Law enforcement officers did not carry out serious inquiries about the suspect … a case in point was that they failed to know what car he drove, where he lived and what he looked like,” argued Al Gailani.
Shortly after the Misdemeanours Court acquitted A.Z., prosecutors appealed the primary judgement.
The Dubai Appeal Court convenes next week.
