Two brothers, who were facing a year in prison after living the high life and sharing drugs, have lost their appeal against conviction in the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court.
The Bahrainis, aged 28 and 30, were found guilty on charges of exchanging and possessing narcotics for recreational use, and were fined BD1,000.
The court earlier heard that the brothers lived and worked together and had been consuming drugs together every day for the last two years.
In March, the older sibling was found guilty of giving his younger sibling hashish free of charge, and possessing hashish and unregulated CBD oil for personal use.
The younger brother was also found guilty of possessing hashish for personal use.
The duo lodged an appeal against the verdict against them. Their defence argued that it could not be proven that the possession of the narcotics moved from one appellant to another, since their lives are so intertwined given the fact they shared a residence and a place of work.
The lawyer also claimed that there was no evidence that a cigarette found in their possession contained illicit substances, and asked judges to overturn the ruling.
“The criteria of the crime are fulfilled when an individual provides drugs to another person, or makes it easier for them to acquire the drug,” read the appeal verdict, responding to the defence’s arguments.
“It does not require the appellant to be certain of the other’s intention of what to do with the narcotics once they have them – once they are presented, it does not matter what is done to them.
“Furthermore, it does not matter which suspect gave the substance to which, or whether the giver was the one who was approached, or whether they offered it to the recipient first.”
Judges added that the older appellant had confessed to charges and additionally admitted that he had made a habit of using drugs recreationally every day, over the course of two years.
The court upheld the one-year sentence and BD1,000 fine against the Bahraini brothers.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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