Stunt rider faces third hearing in drug case

ABU DHABI // A motorcycle champion acquitted in December last year of bringing marijuana into the country is still in the UAE awaiting the outcome of a second appeal by public prosecution against the verdict.

The Czech citizen arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport on October 26 last year to participate in National Day celebrations. But customs inspectors found a small piece of marijuana in his backpack and a blood test also found cocaine in his system.

Prosecutors charged him with bringing drugs into the country and consuming cocaine. But in December last year the criminal court found him not guilty of the first charge and ruled that it was not qualified to look into the second because UAE law prosecutes only drug consumption that takes place in the country.

Prosecution was unsatisfied with the verdict and appealed.

The motorcycle stunt rider continued to deny the charges at appeal and argued that after being invited by an events company to participate in the celebrations, he was in a hurry to pack his belongings and grabbed his brother’s backpack.

“After the officer inspected it they told me there was a piece of marijuana in the bag. I was shocked and puzzled and had no idea it was there,” he told the appeals court in a previous hearing.

His defence attorney, Abdulqader Ismail, argued that the piece of marijuana, weighing 1.38 grams, was very small and because it was at the bottom of the bag there was no proof that his client had been aware of its presence.

The Court of Appeals upheld the earlier verdict and rejected the public prosecution’s appeal. But prosecutors have again appealed the verdict at the Court of Cessation.

The man, who is in his 20s and is on bail, has to wait for the higher court’s ruling before he can leave the UAE.