JERUSALEM (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has sentenced an Israeli woman convicted on drug charges to life in prison, her lawyer said Thursday.
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The court had initially sentenced her to death but cancelled it last week. Israel says it has closely followed the case in the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 in the first of the so-called Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump administration.
Fida Kiwan, a 43-year-old resident of the Israeli city of Haifa, was arrested in March 2021. Authorities say they found marijuana, cocaine and MDMA pills in the apartment where she was staying, and she was convicted on charges of intending to sell drugs. She denied the allegations.
Mordechai Tzivin, an Israeli lawyer representing her, said she was sentenced to life in prison. He said the law enforcement system in the UAE is “very accurate” and that there is a precedent for amnesty in cases in which heavy sentences are issued.
There was no immediate comment from Israel or the UAE.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry had welcomed the decision to cancel the death penalty last week, saying it was “pleased that the efforts on the legal channels as well as other channels led to the cancellation of the death sentence.”
Israeli tourists have flocked to Dubai since normalization, eager to see its futuristic skyscrapers, world-famous malls and other attractions. Israel’s top leaders have met with their counterparts in the Gulf state, and business people have struck major deals, even before the recent signing of a free trade agreement, Israel’s first with an Arab country.
The UAE has some of the world’s most restrictive drug laws. Trafficking typically carries a life sentence and possession a shorter jail sentence.
While UAE law allows for the death penalty in certain cases, capital punishment is rarely carried out. The last known executions were in 2011 and 2014, against two men convicted of murder.
she is a rabid anti semite israel hating arab who happens to be an israeli citizen.
Her brother is just as bad.
Hashem runs the world Boruch Hashem.
May she rot in hell, this anti-semitka. Better the UAE pay for her upkeep rather than Israel. Shame they didn’t stick with the death penalty for this CHOLERA !!!
It’s not pretty, and I don’t wish it for anyone, however according to many reports, UAE has one of the lightest prison systems, there’s no violence or gangs, pretty OK food, it’s way way easier than US prisons.
“Israel’s Foreign Ministry had welcomed the decision to cancel the death penalty last week, saying it was ‘pleased that the efforts on the legal channels as well as other channels led to the cancellation of the death sentence.’ “
One Israeli government official reportedly told non existent news outlets that “this latest announcement from the UAE proves the Abraham accords was the best thing to happen to Israel since the invention of sliced cheese.”
“This lady could have been executed in cold blood,” the fictional government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the aforementioned, imaginary news outlets. “But now, thanks to our newfound, cozy relationship with the UAE, she gets to spend the rest of her life behind bars – with free food and free room and board. Not bad, if I may so myself! You don’t get things for free very often now days! Thank you, UAE!”