Drug dealer has appeal quashed | Rest of the world

Drug dealer has appeal quashed

A SYRIAN man has lost his appeal at the Supreme Court after being convicted to eight years imprisonment in 2005 for intending to sell around 350 grams of cannabis resin.

Nadem Abdel Al Haled Faki Hussein appeared without a lawyer before the three-judge panel of the Supreme Court, arguing he was wrongly convicted.

But it would seem his choice to represent himself backfired, especially after he turned up at his appeal without a lawyer and without a line of defence.

Instead, Hussein simply told the court that he had intended to sell Valium and not cannabis.
Hussein had been charged with intending to sell drugs he had stashed in tubes of hair dye.
He maintained that he only had Valium in the tubes.

He had also told the court the wrong amount of drugs he was charged with.

A sympathetic court decision from the judges yesterday read that despite not fully complying with court procedures “the Supreme Court has given the chance to the appellant to mount his plea in compassion and understanding of the fact that he does not have the services of a lawyer”.

“In his statement towards the Supreme Court, he maintains that he was wrongfully convicted and jailed for the possession with intention to sell 368 grams of hashish because the first forensics results that showed the dye containers contained Valium, had been lost”, read the decision.

“It must also be noted that 347 grams and not 368 grams were the amount of drugs in question.”
The judges then quashed his appeal, saying overwhelming evidence against him said otherwise and mentioning that he had also confessed to police, telling them he had tried to sell the drugs because he needed the money.

The Supreme Court also noted that he had also told police that he had smoked some of the hashish and hid the rest so that he could sell it.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/