ABU DHABI // Lawyers for a Dutch man accused of possessing and consuming marijuana said it was his co-accused who passed him the drugs under a hotel door.
RW, from the Netherlands, was arrested after a fellow hotel guest complained that he was banging on his door and loudly calling his name.
The Emirati defendant, M B, fled the scene before police arrived.
R W’s lawyer said forensics tests showed that the consumption was done outside the country, and therefore the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court was not specialised to look the case.
UAE law only incriminates for consumption carried out in the country.
He argued that prosecutors did not have evidence that it was R W who possessed the drugs and not M B.
The lawyer for M B, said the only reason MB was involved in the case is because he had a criminal record.
He denied his client’s connection to the drugs, and said it was R W who placed the marijuana under the hotel door.
A verdict will be announced on September 29.
hdajani@thenational.ae
