A young man who is on trial for dealing in narcotics has claimed that his confession of guilt was forced by an investigator, the High Criminal Court heard.
The 21-year-old Bahraini has been charged with selling synthetic cannabinoids (unregulated CBD oil), and possessing pregabalin (Lyrica) for personal use.
A search of his car and home revealed a total of 5,525gm of the narcotic in 181 different containers.
He was arrested after allegedly attempting to sell drugs worth BD400 to an undercover informant.
In a defence memo, the suspect’s lawyer claimed that the detective had completely fabricated the accusations against his client and then ‘extracted a confession’ from him ‘by force’.
During a hearing, the young man addressed the court with his allegations. The judge asked if a report was lodged with the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) – a watchdog to probe allegations of police misconduct – and the defendant answered ‘yes’.
“The complaint, and the case at hand are two separate matters, and the SIU is doing its job and probing the allegations,” the leading judge said to the defendant.
According to the Public Prosecution, the policeman who led the investigation and eventually arrested the defendant had learned of his alleged criminal activity from a ‘secret source’. The Bahraini officer acquired a warrant to apprehend and search the defendant, he testified, and the man was caught red-handed in a sting operation where he was about to sell CBD oil to an informant.
In his car, officers recovered four bottles of CBD oil weighing a total of 198gm. A subsequent raid at his residence uncovered an additional 142 plastic bottles containing 4.75kg of the substance, 34 bottles weighing 515gm, and one bottle weighing 65gm.
The 21-year-old defendant from Salmabad admitted to using narcotics, and traces of synthetic cannabinoids and Lyrica were reportedly found in his urine.
Meanwhile, his attorney claimed that the story was ‘pure imagination’ and an ‘invention’ by the detective. In the memo submitted to the court, he alleged that the policeman was a rookie, and was trying to prove himself and ‘flaunt his might’ to his superiors through this case.
“The policeman assaulted the defendant, then claimed that he was the one who was assaulted,” read the document. It claimed that the admission of guilt was forced and requested the judges to discard it.
“There’s no space for doubt that the prosecution warrant was built on a sham query by the policeman. It’s suspicious that he was both the detective and also the one to carry out the arrest and search,” the memo said.
“The prosecutor who issued the warrant did so very quickly and had no time to think it through. Therefore, the policeman must be summoned to be cross-examined before the court.”
The lawyer went on to make further allegations against the investigator.
“It is recorded in prosecution documents that the defendant was mistreated by anti-narcotics police, which was also documented in a medical report,” he claimed.
The trial was adjourned to February 24 for a verdict to be issued in the case. The attorney’s request to question the detective was not granted.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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