A Libyan man today was found not guilty of smuggling drugs in with him into prison, while he himself was a prisoner.

Diaeddin Arab, born in Tripoli 1966, was charged with being in possession of Cannabis resin, trafficking and attempting to smuggle in cannabis into prison.

The Court noted that Mr Arab was in a six-bed dormitory in prison on 20 February, 2009. There were two other prisoners in his dormitory, Tarek Mahmoud and Kingsley Wilcox, and both resided in the dormitory prior to the accused’s arrival.

A search of the dormitory uncovered a small block of cannabis resin on Tarek Mahmoud’s bedside table, which was later found to weigh 0.16 grams and had a purity of 15%.

Mr Mahmoud had immediately admitted that it was cannabis and said that the accused had given it to him the day before. He also said that the accused had also smoked with him.

Mr Wilcox testified during the inquiry and confirmed Mr Mahmoud’s version, but said that he himself had not smoked the drug.

The accused on March 9, 2009, denied that he was in possession of cannabis, smoked it, and offered the drug to other prisoners. 

Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia noted that the case stood on the credibility of the witness, and whether the court believes Mr Mahmoud’s version, or the accused’s version.

The court admitted that it seemed like Mr Wilcox was an independent witness, and that there was no reason for him to lie. “However we are speaking about criminal matters, and as such the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt”.

The court said that it had reasonable doubt regarding the veracity of Mr Mahmoud’s version, as it is very hard for a prisoner to bring drugs into prison due to searches that occur on the prisoners and all those who visit. When a prisoner does manage to bring drugs into prison, it would hold the equivalent value of gold to him, the court said.

“In this context, the court finds it hard to believe that a prisoner, who according to Wilcox, arrived just the day before, and according to Mahmoud, managed to bring in a piece of cannabis resin, would immediately trust two prisoners in the dormitory that he did not know”. It also noted that it would be hard for a prisoner to smuggle in cannabis into prison in his mouth.

The Court also found it hard to believe that if the accused smuggled drugs into prison, the accused would decide to split the cannabis with another inmate who he didn’t know, without any form of consideration, especially considering it would be valued like gold in prison.

Regarding Wilcox’ testimony, the court also has its doubts when one considers that Wilcox and Mahmoud had been residing in the same dormitory together for a number of months, and were presumably friends.                                                                                

Dr Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia represented Mr Arab.