He claimed they were of a medicinal nature.

A passenger has gone on trial accused of carrying two bags containing witchcraft materials and trying to smuggle the illegal items into the UAE.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court heard that the 43-year-old Asian man - visiting the UAE - was stopped at the Abu Dhabi International Airport after customs officers noticed suspicious products in his baggage.

When the security officers checked the passenger's bags manually, they found several materials used in witchcraft in them.

Officers seized the sorcery items and sent them to officials at the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments to establish what exactly the products were. The man was referred to the public prosecution for further investigations.

A report from the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments said the items found with the man were being used by sorcerers in their witchcraft and were against the Islamic teachings.

The Islamic scholars also recommended that the sorcery materials be destroyed to protect members of the community.

Prosecutors charged the Asian man with attempting to carry sorcery materials into the UAE to practice witchcraft, which is against UAE laws.

The man denied the charges claiming that he was just helping a friend in his home country who asked him to carry the materials and hand them over to a person living in Abu Dhabi.

He revealed to the court that his friend told him the materials were medicines and that they had to be despatched to a person who suffered from certain illnesses and wanted them for treatment.

"I had no idea that the items were being used for witchcraft. I thought they were herbal medicines," said the visitor.

His lawyer argued that there was no evidence to prove that the man had intentionally carried the sorcery materials for using them for witchcraft in the country.

She said the customs officers discovered the witchcraft materials as soon as they opened the man's bags. "If he was really smuggling them into the country, he would have hidden them inside the clothes or in a place where they couldn't easily be seen by authorities," the lawyer pointed out.

She asked the court to clear her client stressing that he was innocent.

The trial was adjourned until October.



ismail@khaleejtimes.com