UAE prosecutors will not contest court ruling on drug-dealing Briton and Syrian

An Appeals Court ruling overturning the death sentence of two young men will not be contested by prosecutors.
M B, 19, from Syria, and N L, 21, from the UK, were sentenced to death for drug dealing by the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance in June last year.
They were found guilty of selling Dh1,500 worth of cannabis to an undercover policeman in an Abu Dhabi park.
But the sentence was commuted to four years in jail by the Appeals Court in March.
The Public Prosecution said yesterday the ruling would not be contested further.
"The prosecution is believed to be solely concerned with condemning the accused, while the actual role is to ensure law is enforced whether that leads to the defendants being convicted or acquitted," a statement said.
"After a verdict is made, the prosecution studies the merits of the case upon which the ruling was based. If it finds them compatible with the law and built on sufficient evidence, it confirms the judgment.
"The prosecution reverses the ruling only when it finds that the law has not been correctly applied or that any of the evidence involved in the case has been ignored.
"It is not necessary, as some people think, that the prosecution reverses the judgment only to seek condemnation or to administer tougher punishment."
newsdesk@thenational.ae