April 23
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Police look for woman leader of major drug ring----Dubai Police tracking woman
after 52 kilos of heroin found hidden in orange boxes
Dubai police seized nearly 52 kg of heroin concealed in oranges boxes which a
Pakistani drugs ring tried to smuggle into the emirate. Reacting to the news,
readers urged authorities to enforce death punishment on narcotics dealers.
Police said they seized the drugs after spending nearly a year watching that
gang, which is led by a woman, adding that they are trying to track her down.
The heroin was “expertly” concealed inside 2,600 oranges crates destined for
the emirate but they were discovered by Dubai’s counter-drug squads and the
smugglers were arrested, the paper said.
“The Pakistani gang is headed by a woman who is being tracked down by the
authorities,” the paper said, quoting Major General Abdul Jalil Mohammed Al
Asmawi, director general of the counter-drugs department in Dubai.
In comments sent to the paper, readers said the high rate of drug smuggling to
the UAE was a result of lax penalties and urged the country to join Saudi
Arabia in enforcing capital punishment against all narcotics smugglers.
“These criminals are seeking to destroy our society. We appeal for our wise
leadership to enforce the death sentence against such smugglers. Jailing them
for a few years and deporting them will not deter them as they will go and
smuggle again into another country,” said a reader, identified as Shamsi.
Another reader identified only as Karkim said: "Drug smugglers think a million
of times before smuggling into Saudi Arabia because it strictly enforces death
punishment. We call on our authorities to follow suit.”
A reader named Khalifa suggested the execution of those smugglers in a public
place to be shown live on television.
“Let the so-called human rights groups then defend these smugglers while they
do nothing for those people who perish as a result of drugs.”
(source: Emirates247.com)
LEBANON:
Cabinet agenda to focus on death penalty abolition, diaspora vote
The Foreign Ministry’s proposal to allow the Lebanese diaspora to vote in next
year’s parliamentary elections will dominate discussions of the Cabinet when it
meets Wednesday morning, ministerial sources said Sunday.
A draft law to abolish the death penalty and replace it with hard labor or life
in prison is also set to be discussed. Some 62 items are on the agenda of the
Cabinet session to be chaired by President Michel Sleiman at the Baabda Palace.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati is scheduled to leave after the Cabinet meeting for
Brussels on a 2-day official visit for talks with Belgian and European Union
officials.
(source: The Daily Star)
INDONESIA/AUSTRALIA:
Aussie faces death sentence in Bali
An Australian man allegedly caught trying to smuggle hash and the party drug
ice into Bali in his stomach will face a trafficking charge and the possibility
of a death sentence, prosecutors have confirmed.
Edward Myatt is expected to be moved from police headquarters in Bali to the
notorious Kerobokan jail within days after it was revealed today that police
had completed their investigation and were set to hand the case over to
prosecutors.
The 54-year-old Ballarat-born man was arrested on February 27 at Ngurah Rai
Airport in Bali and was later allegedly found to be carrying 1.1kg of hashish
and more than 4 grams of methamphetamines in plastic casings which he had
swallowed.
Bali's chief prosecutor Gusti Gede Putu Atmaja has confirmed his office had
signed off on the police summary of evidence, or P21, and that Myatt could face
the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charge of trafficking.
"Today, we have declared it's P21. The document has been finalised," Mr Atmaja
said today.
"The primary charge will be under article 113 which is for importing and
distributing with maximum penalty of death."
Myatt will also be charged with two counts of possession, the most serious of
which carries a maximum penalty of life in jail.
It's likely he will have his 1st day in court in early May.
The court where he will appear is the same venue where a string of Australians
convicted on drugs charges have appeared since 2004, including the Gold Coast's
Schapelle Corby and the Bali 9.
Myatt will also be housed at Kerobokan jail, along with the other Australians,
for the duration of his trial and beyond if convicted.
While it's understood Myatt told police that he was working alone, authorities
remain convinced he is part of an international drug-smuggling syndicate and
may have successfully imported drugs into Bali in the past.
Officers with Bali's drugs squad have been in contact with Interpol as part of
efforts to establish whether Myatt has links with a larger operation.
Myatt has allegedly told investigators he bought the drugs, which have an
estimated street value of $70,000, in Delhi from a man known as "Dr Steve"
after travelling to India from Yorkshire in England where he has lived for
several years.
He allegedly separated the drugs into smaller quantities and wrapped them in 72
plastic casings at his hotel before swallowing them and travelling to Bali.
Australian and British consular officials have been providing him with
assistance.
(source: Sydney Morning Herald)
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