DUBAI // A young man who called his ex-roommates to say his goodbyes before leaving for his home country found himself arrested on drug charges after officers at the other end heard the call and asked about his identity, a court was told this morning.
MY, 24, from Egypt, a manager at a private company, was charged with consuming drugs after prosecutors said he smoked hashish with friends on April 22 this year. But MY said the only evidence police had was that he called those friends on the telephone.
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"I didn't smoke anything, your honour, all that happened is that I called my ex-roommates to say goodbye while the police were with them. Police asked them about my identity and they arrested me," MY told the court.
His defence lawyer argued claimed that the results of a forensics report are not accurate and that the arrest warrant was not valid, as it was issued after the actual arrest.
He said the arrest and inspection warrants issued by the prosecutors were also invalid because they were issued after the arrest.
"My client has never smoked hashish in his life and he is a reputable man. His only fault was to call his friends," the lawyer told Judge Hamad Abdul Latif.
A verdict is expected on June 20.
salamir@thenational.ae
