Posted on 08/12/2008 2:57:46 PM PDT by forkinsocket
BEIRUT -- It was an open-and-shut case. Kuwaiti cops showed up at the dealer's house and seized more than 22 pounds of cocaine and 165 pounds of hashish. The suspect was accused of drug trafficking and, a few months later, sentenced to death.
But the convicted drug dealer, Talal Nasser al Sabah, was no ordinary Kuwaiti -- he was a member of the Persian Gulf kingdom's ruling family.
Now everyone is watching to see whether the authorities will follow through on the ruling by the independent-minded judiciary or grant Talal the immunity considered a right by royal families throughout the gulf region.
"The people of Kuwait are impressed with the independence of the judiciary and trust, in general, its rulings," said Naser Sane, a Kuwaiti lawmaker. "In other Arab gulf nations, you don't see a court sentencing in this way a member of a ruling family."
Royal clans dominate political and economic lives of the oil-rich kingdoms. It is uncommon to see a royal behind bars, let alone on death row.
But Kuwait has experimented with democracy in ways that distinguish it from its neighbors, which mostly have autocratic political systems.
Nowadays, members of the Sabah ruling family get traffic tickets and have even been jailed for alleged corruption, said Abdullah Ayoub, a lawyer in Kuwait.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
“22 pounds of cocaine”
That’s a lot
He has 22 pounds of cocaine and he clams to not be a dealer. What does he do-give the stuff away as party favors?
‘”Rulers of these states fear the space of democracy in Kuwait might at the end affect their power,” said Mohammed Rumaihi, editor of the Kuwaiti newspaper Awan and a former advisor to the government. “For them, the Kuwaiti phenomenon is like a plague that needs to be contained.”’
So who was he selling it to? other good muslims?
sounds like he’s party director for visiting Saudis.
Actually you probably arent too far off on the party favors.
Now we know what the need the C-17s for.
I can imagine “Well, I have so many freaking cousins and their friends, that’s just one Friday night party”.
Yes. Some addicts can actually use up that amount themselves.
What else are they gonna do with all the money we're sending them for oil?
“Yes. Some addicts can actually use up that amount themselves.”
He’s going to use 22 pounds of cocaine and 165 pounds of hash all by himself? He’d have to do more than 27 grams a day to use that much cocaine in a year, which just isn’t remotely possible. He’d be dead the first night before he ever long before he ever reached 27 grams. He had about 9,979 grams of cocaine and close to 75,000 grams of hash. There is no way he was doing all that dope all by himself.
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