Emirati cleared of causing friend's drug overdose death in Abu Dhabi

A young man who had booked a hotel room for his friend, where the latter died along with his female friend due to drug overdose, has been cleared of abetting the pair in consuming drugs, which caused their death.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted the Emirati man of the charge of arranging the place where the two Arab nationals consumed drugs in huge quantity that led to their death. The court said there was not enough evidence to prove that the man helped them in drug use.
Official court documents stated that the Emirati, in his 20s, was arrested after his friend and the woman died in a hotel room in Abu Dhabi as they consumed narcotics and psychotropic drugs.
Prosecutors said the defendant had booked the hotel room in which the man spent days with the woman and her sister as they consumed drugs.
The Emirati allegedly booked the hotel room for one day at the request of his friend, who was visiting the emirate. He then handed over the room entry card to him.
After spending one day in the hotel, the friend reportedly told the Emirati that he would spend some more days and the man had to extend the hotel reservation.
On the fateful day, the friend, his female friend and her sister, consumed lots of drugs and two of them fell unconscious. The sister of the deceased, who was still conscious, phoned an ambulance that rushed in to save the pair, but paramedics found the Arab man and the woman dead.
Police found narcotics and psychotropic drugs in the hotel room. A medical report said the pair died of drug overdose.
Prosecutors had charged the Emirati with abetting in the drug abuse by arranging a place where the pair consumed drugs.
The man denied the charge stressing that he booked the hotel room upon the request of his friend and that he had no idea that he even consumed drugs.
The defendant said he even went to the hotel room once, during the first day, just to check on his friend and that he didn't know what took place in there over the days that followed.
His lawyer had argued that there was no sufficient evidence to prove that her client abetted in the drug abuse crime or had booked the hotel room for the pair to use for consuming drugs.
The lawyer requested that her client be cleared of the charge.
And after hearing from all parties, the judge decided to acquit the Emirati because the prosecution failed to present enough evidence to prove its case.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi

Ismail Sebugwaawo

ismail@khaleejtimes.com