ABU DHABI // A man who confessed in court to possessing drugs has been acquitted because police followed invalid procedures during his arrest.

The man, from Sudan, was arrested in Abu Dhabi after another drug suspect in Umm Al Quwain led police to him.

But Chief Justice Sayed Abdul Baseer said the arrest was illegal as there had been no permit from the public prosecution authorising it. He also said the police had acted without sufficient investigation of the case.

“They did not conduct any investigation on the defendant whatsoever,” said the Chief Justice. “They did not even know his address, the other man guided them to him.”

He also criticised the investigation because the same policeman who arrested the man was allowed to interrogate and extract a confession from him.

“This is illegal, how can the policeman conduct questioning?”

The judge said that because the investigation was invalid, everything that followed – including a subsequent confession by the man during his court trial – was also invalid.

“So even though the defendant confessed later to prosecutors and the court as well, he should be acquitted,” said the judge.

hdajani@thenational.ae