UAE. DEATH SENTENCE OVERRULED AS PROCEDURE LACKS PERMISSION

the Supreme Federal Court in Abu Dhabi, UAE, overruled a death penalty passed against an Asian expatriate convicted of selling 1/4kg of hashish to an undercover agent. The ruling was made on the basis that the arrest and seizure procedures lacked the permission of the Public Prosecution. The case dated back to April 30, 2004, when the accused, identified as Asrar Khan, was arrested as he was trying to sell the hashish to an undercover policeman in the Sharjah emirate. Speaking to reporters, a court source said: “This means that the capital punishment is annulled, and the accused will be exonerated, since the arrest and seizure procedures did lack the prosecution’s permission, and hence they should be declared null and void. Yet, the accused would be given a deportation sentence.”