Post date: Apr 29, 2013 1:38:20 PM
Three Britons are sentenced to four years in prison in Dubai, on charges of possessing illegal drugs during their summer holiday in the UAE.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (APRIL 29, 2013) (REUTERS) - Three Britons were sentenced to four years in jail on drugs charges inDubai on Monday (April 29), a day after the British prime minister expressed concern about allegations that they had been tortured.
Grant Cameron, Karl Williams and Suneet Jeerh were arrested in July 2012 during a holiday in the United Arab Emirates. Police said they had found a form of synthetic cannabis in their hire car.All three had pleaded not guilty to charges of possessing and intending to sell illegal drugs and said police had subjected them to beatings and threatened them with guns - allegations the police deny.
Judge Ali Attiyah Saad sentenced the Britons to four years in jail each at Dubai Criminal Court.
Abdel-Hamid Mahdi, who represents Grant Cameron, said he planned to appeal the sentence, asking for mercy. It is common for convicts to be pardoned during national and religious holidays in the UAE, particularly first-time offenders.
"The court has sentenced the suspects to four years. We have not explored the reasons yet, but they were sentenced for drug use and not for dealing drugs," Mahdi said.
One of the defence lawyers, Issa bin-Haider, said the sentences indicated the court had dropped the charge of intent to sell illegal drugs as that would have carried a more severe punishment.
He said allegations of torture had not been dealt with by the court.
"With regards to the allegation of torture, the problem is that the suspects did not raise it with the police or the general persecutor during the investigation. This (torture) allegation came up one week after I was hired to defend one of them. At that time, he said he was tortured," said Isaa bin-Haider, after the court session.
British prime minister David Cameron commented on the case on Sunday, prior to a visit by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, who is due to arrive in Britain on Tuesday.
In a letter to Reprieve, a London-based legal charity which campaigns for prisoner rights, he said Britain had repeatedly raised concerns about the torture allegations with the UAE, saying the authorities' failure to organise a full medical examination of the men was worrisome.
At a hearing in the case in March, police officer Osman Ali Abdulla, who took part in the Britons' arrests, denied any of the men were abused or beaten and said they were treated well.
There is zero tolerance for drug-related offences in the UAE, a regional business hub and tourist destination where millions of expatriates live and work. There are severe penalties for drug trafficking and possession.