UAE sentences Israeli citizen to death for drug possession

The UAE has sentenced a Palestinian woman with Israeli citizenship to death for smuggling drugs, according to a report in Haaretz.

Fida Kiwan is a 42-year-old owner of a photography studio and a resident of Haifa in northern Israel. She was visiting the UAE in March 2021 when she was found in possession of half a kilogram of cocaine.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of the case and is handling it through the Department of Israelis Abroad in the Consular Division and Israeli representatives in the United Arab Emirates,” a spokesperson from the ministry told Haaretz on Tuesday.

Kiwan was in Dubai for work and was staying in a rented apartment when the Emirati police conducted a search and found the cocaine. Kiwan denies that she was trafficking drugs and claimed that the cocaine was planted in her apartment.

Kiwan’s family members have reached out to Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament and Amnesty International in order to appeal her case. According to some sources, her family her working on getting her transferred to Israel so she can serve time in an Israeli prison, reported Haaretz.

Although UAE law prescribes the death penalty for murder, drug trafficking, and other crimes, it is rare for it to be carried out. The last two executions in the country were of two men who had been found guilty of murder in 2011 and 2014.