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Israel asks UAE to commute the death sentence against Arab-Israeli woman

May 9, 2022 at 9:45 am

Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej in Jerusalem, on 14 June 2021. [EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images]

Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation, Issawi Frej, has asked the UAE to commute the death sentence against Arab-Israeli woman, Fidaa Kiwan.

Kiwan was sentenced to death in Dubai after she was convicted of possessing half a kilogramme of cocaine.

The news website reported that Frej gave the UAE Ambassador to Israel, Mohammad Al Khaja, a letter requesting that the sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.

Kiwan, a 43-year-old Arab woman from Haifa who owns a photography studio, reportedly came to Dubai for work at the invitation of a Palestinian acquaintance a year ago.

On 17 March 2021, one week after her arrival to the Gulf State, Ynet News reported, her apartment was inspected, and cocaine was found in it.

She said that the drugs were not hers, and she did not know anything about them.

Israeli officials with knowledge of the case told the Times of Israel that they expect the sentence to be commuted to a long prison term upon appeal.

In the United Arab Emirates there are strict anti-drug laws, with those convicted of drug trafficking facing a possible death sentence. However, the death sentences are not rigorously enforced in many cases and tend to be converted into long-term prison sentences.

The UAE, along with a number of Arab countries normalised ties with the Israeli occupation state in 2020.

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