Student’s 10-year jail sentence upheld in hashish peddling case

TDT | Manama

The First Supreme Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the punishment of a university student who was sentenced last April to 10 years of imprisonment for peddling hashish through his accounts on social media. The man was also fined BD5,000 for the same crime by the First High Criminal Court.

Court files showed that the appellant was spotted by the Anti-Narcotics Department in the Interior Ministry while offering drugs for sale on social media platforms. An undercover cop approached the man on social media and requested to buy drugs from him. The appellant took the bait and agreed to meet the cop in A’ali area in the Northern Governorate to sell him a piece of hashish.

Upon his arrival to the agreed spot, the appellant noticed suspicious presence of police officers and attempted to flee the scene, but he was chased down and eventually arrested. The man denied the accusation of selling drugs, claiming that he was “bluffing” so he could steal money from drug addicts, including the undercover cop. He also alleged that he had only been doing this for one week.

Additionally, a piece of hashish was found in his possession, but the man told interrogators that it was for his personal consumption and claimed that he wasn’t intending to sell it. The man was referred to the Public Prosecution, which charged him with drugs peddling and abusing hashish and methamphetamine, and he was later referred to the court for trial.