Emirati prisoners pay fines instead of serving jail term

The Court of First Instance commuted on Thursday the jail sentences of 23 Emirati inmates, convicted of using narcotics and possession of drugs for personal use, to half the period or replaced them with fines.
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As many as 19 convicts, who had been found guilty of drug use and possessing of the banned substance were serving a 4-year jail sentence each, had their jail terms replaced with Dh 10,000 worth of fines each.
The other convicts had their 4-year term cut into half.
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The new rulings came after the modifications were made to the Federal Anti- Narcotics Law, recently.
The cases, in which reviewed rulings were issued on Thursday, date back to 2012.
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More similar cases are in the process of being reviewed by the Public Prosecution and the Dubai Courts so that more convicts serving jail term in drug related issues could benefit from the newly modified law.
The inmates, who have already served two years in jail, can be released and the others can go free once they pay the fines.
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Deciding on the lesser rulings for already convicted drug users is left to the discrepancy of the judge panels.
mary@khaleejtimes.com