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An Israeli woman has been sentenced to life in prison in Dubai after an appeals court overturned a death sentence for possession of an illegal substance last week, her defense team announced on Thursday.
Fidaa Kiwan is Sentenced to death After she was convicted of drug charges in April, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal Cancellation of penaltiesmuch to the praise of her lawyers Shadi Saruji and Tami Ullman, who called the ruling a “humane and correct decision”.
Speaking on the ruling on Kan Public Radio last week, Ullman predicted that Kiwan would be jailed and that the defense team would work to “bring her to Israel as soon as possible.”
Kiwan, a 43-year-old Haifa resident who owns a photography studio, reportedly came to Dubai to work a year ago at the invitation of a Palestinian acquaintance. A short time later, on March 17, 2021, she was arrested after a search of her apartment uncovered drugs. She claimed the cocaine was not hers.
“I never thought in my life that I would be sentenced to death. I don’t think it will happen. This is a modern country,” Kiwan told Kan in April.
According to Kiwan’s sentence, the Haifa resident met a man named Yassin Ibrahim Nagiar who offered her a monthly payment of NIS 47,000 ($13,700) to sell the drugs before traveling to the UAE.
File: Illustrative photo of cocaine. (CC BY-SA Valerie Everett, Flickr)
After arriving in the country, an undercover police officer arranged to meet her in a car where agents exchanged payments for an illegal substance, court documents said.
However, Kiwan’s brother accused UAE authorities of beating his sister to extract a confession, according to the Walla News website.
The UAE is known for its strict anti-drug laws, and those convicted of drug trafficking can face the death penalty. However, the death penalty is not strictly enforced in many cases and often translates into severe sentences.
This is not the first time the UAE has conducted a famous drug investigation against Israelis. In October 2021, Halil Dasuki, a 31-year-old Israeli man from Lod, was reportedly arrested in Dubai in connection with a scheme to smuggle half a ton of cocaine into the UAE and from there to Israel, according to reports.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates normalized relations with Bahrain in 2020 when they signed the Abraham Accord, brokered by the United States. Since then, the UAE has become a popular tourist and business destination for Israelis, with thousands of people visiting the UAE.
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