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Mercy has been shown to an assistant accountant who has been sentenced to life in prison for dealing an assortment of narcotics.
The Supreme Criminal Appeals Court yesterday lowered his prison term from 25 years (life) to 15 years, but upheld a BD10,000 fine which the High Criminal Court had ordered him to pay.
In the initial trial in January, the 32-year-old Bahraini faced judges as a ‘repeat offender’, which carried a more drastic sentence, having in 2012 been sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling hashish.
This time around, he was found guilty of promoting heroin, hashish, meth and synthetic cannabinoids (CBD oil) for profit.
“The original verdict was built on the statements of policemen and the appellant’s own admission of guilt before the Public Prosecution and pre-trial judge, along with his criminal history, the contents of his phone, and a report finding traces of hashish in his urine,” read yesterday’s verdict.
“There can be no doubt about the appellant’s guilt, but considering the circumstances of the case, the court has decided to extend to him a measure of mercy and lower his sentence,” the judge concluded.
The GDN earlier reported that last year the man was arrested outside his home in Muharraq after police found a trove of narcotics and related paraphernalia inside. Officers uncovered bags of powdered heroin, containers of liquid synthetic cannabinoids (CBD oil), syringes, vapes, water pipes and more.
They also found his packaging station, which contained two sensitive scales, packaging supplies like transparent bags, along with scissors and metal rulers with brown-coloured hashish residue on them.
After searching the house, police received further intelligence that there was more in the outer kitchen and found a black bag holding large pieces of hashish and bags of powdered meth and heroin.
The High Criminal Court’s ruling stated that the appellant obtained narcotics from individuals in Pakistan, who he corresponded through WhatsApp, then divided the merchandise in small bags to sell.
He received the stock through dead drops all across the country, where packages of narcotics were hidden in publicly-accessible places, the court earlier heard.
After he collected the narcotics, he promoted and sold the drugs through dead drops as well, then paid the suppliers with part of the revenue generated from the sales.
A glance at the man’s criminal record revealed a long history of trouble with the law, including theft, assault and recreational drug use.
In 2008, during pre-trial detention, a friend brought him fruit and a drink which police found had a piece of hashish hidden inside.
According to Bahraini law, individuals accused of a crime, of which they were previously found guilty, face harsher sentences than first-time offenders.
In a previous conviction 12 years ago, the man was sentenced to 10 years and fined BD5,000 for trading in hashish.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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