UAE suspends death sentence against Arab-Israeli citizen

The United Arab Emirates Court of Appeals in Abu Dhabi yesterday postponed the death sentence issued against Arab-Israeli citizen Fidaa Kiwan following an appeal submitted by her lawyer, Ahmed Saeed Al-Mazrouei, Arab48 reported.

According to the site, during the court hearing, Al-Mazrouei refuted charges that she intended to deal in drugs, the charges she had been sentenced to death for.

The next session will be held on 31 May at the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeals where Kiwan’s lawyer will present his new defence against the charges.

The court hearing was attended by a member of the Kiwan family and attorney Mordechai Tsibin.

Kiwan, a 43-year-old Haifa resident, was arrested in March 2021 carrying half a kilogram of cocaine.

Her sister said a Palestinian-Emirati man who had invited her to work in the UAE had provided her with the apartment where the cocaine was found.

“My sister went to the UAE to work in the field of photography through a person and as it turns out he was not a good person after he put drugs in her home without her knowledge,” she said.

“We did not want to go to the media before because we were afraid it would harm her, but after the [death] ruling was issued, we decided to go to everyone who could help in order to pardon my sister because she was unjustly sentenced.”

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