Drug dealer to face third trial

An Asian drug dealer will stand trial for the third time after the supreme federal court turned down a life jail sentence issued by a Sharjah court, which itself had reduced a death verdict against the defendant.

In a report published on Wednesday, the semi official Arabic language daily Alittihad said the federal supreme court rejected the life prison sentence and decided to refer the defendant to another court.

The unidentified Asian man was earlier sentenced to death by a Sharjah court after he was convicted of smuggling heroin and other narcotics into the country. An appeal court in the emirate reduced the verdict to life imprisonment, prompting the prosecutor to resort to the federal supreme court.