An Israeli woman lawyer who was convicted of drug offenses in the United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that her death sentence had been overturned earlier this year.
The case represents a potential test for relations between the two countries, which normalized in the fall of 2020 under the so-called “Ibrahim Agreement” between Israel and US-controlled Arab states.
Fida Keyvan, 43, from Haifa in northern Israel, was sentenced to death last April.
And the Israeli website Ynet reported at the time that Saturn was arrested on March 21, 2021, for possession of half a kilogram (more than a pound) of cocaine, which he claimed did not belong to him.
And on Tuesday, Mordechai Zon, the Israeli lawyer representing him, said the death sentence had been overturned in an appeals court, but that he could receive a long prison sentence, according to ABC News and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
As the Associated Press reported, no immediate comment was made by Israeli or Emirati officials.
Drug trafficking laws in the UAE are strict and carry the death penalty, but in many cases they are not enforced and are replaced by long prison terms.
The Israeli Radio and Television Corporation had previously said that the Keivan family had confirmed that they were not involved in drug trafficking and that other people were involved in the case.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry warned Israeli citizens planning to travel to the UAE to tighten drug laws in the country and advised them not to violate them.
The Times of Israel said this was not the first time an Israeli drug “smuggler” had been arrested in the UAE. Last October, Dubai arrested Khalil Desouki, a Middle Eastern Israeli, on suspicion of involvement in a case. A plan to smuggle half a ton of cocaine to the UAE and from there to Israel.
Since the agreement was signed, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have flocked to the UAE, and an agreement has been signed between the two countries to encourage tourism.
Source: Lebanon Debate
