Advocate seeks dismissal of drug case against lawyer
Advocate defending lawyer says his client was arrested unlawfully
Dubai: An advocate has asked a court to dismiss a drug case against his client, a lawyer, because drug enforcement procedures were carried out unlawfully against him.
The 25-year-old Canadian lawyer firmly denied the accusation of possessing 20 grams of Spice for his personal consumption when he entered an innocent plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Advocate Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi, who is defending the Canadian, asked the court to acquit his client after drug enforcement officers arrested him in an unlawful manner.
“The law enforcement procedures were carried out improperly against the Canadian. It is true that he hails from an Arab country but he doesn’t have good command of Arabic language, in which he was questioned. Besides, the search and arrest warrant was issued based on improper law procedures whereby the drug enforcement officers did not carry out serious investigation concerning the tip off,” advocate Al Shamsi argued.
Prosecution records said drug enforcement officers arrested the 25-year-old lawyer when he was stepping out of his vehicle at Business Bay on July 16.
Prosecutors charged the defendant with consuming Spice and possessing three grass-like pieces [Spice] which he intended to consume.
The evidence brought in against the defendant was unfounded and not substantiated enough to issue an arrest warrant, argued Al Shamsi.
“We ask the court to dismiss the case because it was based on legal procedures that were enforced in a wrongful and improper manner,” he defended.
“I am not guilty,” said the Canadian when he denied possessing and consuming drugs.
According to the charge sheet, the Canadian lawyer possessed a silver-coloured plastic bag that contained 1.75gm of Spice and a similar bag that contained a grassy piece weighing 4.7gm of Spice as well. He also possessed a small plastic pot that contained a dry grassy piece of Spice that weighed 13.3gm.
An Emirati anti-narcotics police lieutenant testified that the defendant was detained following a tip off from an informant.
“The informant warned the police that the defendant possessed drugs and a mind-altering substance. We obtained prosecutors’ warrant to arrest him and have his car and residence searched. We busted the suspect when he went out of his vehicle. No drugs were found in his possession or inside his car. We raided his house. The plastic pot was found on a table beside his bed. Then he guided us to the place where he hid the other drugs inside his closet. When asked about the suspected substance that was seized in his possession, he immediately confessed that it was Spice. He claimed that he bought it from an Arab,” the lieutenant claimed to prosecutors.
A ruling will be heard on December 24.
