The appeals court has overturned a 10-year jail sentence, after declaring a woman innocent of aiding and abetting her friend in selling synthetic cannabinoids.
In the original High Criminal Court verdict, her male drug-buddy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for trading in and using the drug, and were fined BD5,000 each.
The 25-year-old Bahraini woman was convicted of aiding and abetting her 23-year-old co-defendant by driving him to pick up a package arriving from the UK, containing 1.22kg of the narcotic.
She was also found guilty of helping him collect revenue generated from his illicit business, by receiving payments on his behalf using her bank accounts, with knowledge of the money’s origin. They were also both convicted of possessing methamphetamine and synthetic cannabinoids for recreational use.
She had denied accusations of trading, stating that she merely consumed meth with the man, which he had given to her for free and she took to the appeals court to contest the original verdict.
“The court doubts the veracity of the accusations against the appellant,” read the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court verdict. “The court has scrutinised the charges and began to view the incident from a different perspective rather than the one in the version of events put forth by the Public Prosecution.”
The ruling was directly in opposition to the verdict issued by the first-instance court, which had stated that the crime could not have been committed or brought to fruition without her co-operation and participation.
As the male defendant went to the airport to receive his narcotics-filled package, prosecutors alleged that she drove him there, knowing fully well what he was doing. The original verdict also stated that she helped him receive financial returns on his illicit venture, and that the two used this income to ‘spend on themselves’ and also withdrew it from the bank in cash form.
Appeal judges, however, concluded that the male defendant had ‘exploited’ his friend by having her give him a ride and implicating her in the process.
The 23-year-old man had also appealed his sentence, but it was upheld. His lawyers claimed that he had no intention to trade in the drugs, and his possession was for the purpose of consuming them with his friends, and that he never made a profit off the transactions.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))