Appeals Court rejects ‘lenient sentencing’ of 9 drug dealers

Appeals Court rejects ‘lenient sentencing’ of 9 drug dealers

December 18, 2016
Prison
Prison

By Adnan Al-Shabrawi

JEDDAH — The Court of Appeals objected to what it described as a “lenient sentencing” by a penal court of nine drug dealers to prison.

A source said the drug dealers were arrested for selling amphetamine pills through social media.

“The drug dealers were seven Saudi men, a Yemeni woman and an Indonesian woman. They had two apartments and luxurious cars. One of the apartments was reserved for customers who come to take drugs and the other was used to store drugs,” said the source.

The source said police had seized 29,000 amphetamine pills and several batches of hashish from the place.

“The criminal court initially sentenced the leader of the gang to five years in prison and the rest to two to three years of prison. The Court of Appeals objected to the sentence on grounds it was too lenient. The drug dealers were then sentenced to five to 10 years in prison and 500 to 1,000 lashes. They were also banned from travel and all their money, mobile phones and electronic devices were confiscated,” said the source.

The trial lasted 20 months and was reviewed by five judges. The drug dealers confessed to their crimes and pledged to never commit them again.

However, the Court of Appeals again objected to the verdict and called for a tougher sentence, the source said.

Two of the drug dealers later retracted their confessions saying they were forced to sign confession papers whose contents they were unaware of.

“One member of the gang was also involved in two previous drug crimes but the others had no previous criminal record,” said the source.

Legal consultant Nujood Qassim said there are different degrees of punishments when it comes to drug crimes.

“The punishment for dealing, smuggling, distributing and consuming drugs varies. Any sentence issued must be supported by clear evidence. Speculations are not enough for charging someone with a crime,” said Qassim.


December 18, 2016
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