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They tried to make him go to rehab – but defendant says no to fight drug charge
A man who refused to go to rehab has been jailed for four and a half years for smoking hashish.
The Emirati insisted that he doesn’t need rehab and said he never took any drugs. Prosecutors had offered the man the chance to go to rehab instead of a prison sentence.
But the defendant felt so strongly about the case that he said he would rather face jail than admit he had taken illegal drugs. His lawyer, Mohammed Al Azizi, is now appealing the four-and-a-half-year sentence at Abu Dhabi Criminal Appeal Court.
“I am already before the appeal court. We have two different drug tests that each show my client had no drugs in his system. I am confident that we can win the case because there is no evidence against him,” he said.
The man was originally charged with possession and use of hashish, and possession of alcohol without a licence. Although there is a four-year minimum sentence for possession of drugs, it is common for the courts to offer rehab to Emiratis for possession of small quantities of less serious drugs.
The chief judge of Abu Dhabi Criminal Court has often said he believes the four-year minimum is too harsh for young offenders who were trying such drugs for the first time. He had been a strong advocate of rehab as an alternative for young drug users. However, in this case the defendant refused to allow his case to the sent to the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court’s medical committee, which would have arranged for him to be sent to rehab.
Al Azizi said his client was taking a stand because he felt he didn’t do anything wrong.
“That has been shown by the drug tests. I think he will be cleared,” he said.
sean@7days.ae
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