Thursday 21/November/2024 – 02:56 PM
The case of Saad Al-Saghir.. In a few days, the North Cairo Criminal Court, held in the Abbasiya Courts Complex, will bring down the curtain on the second session of the trial of the singer Saad Al-Saghir on charges of possessing essences of hashish and tramadol, narcotics, with the intention of taking them.
In the following lines, we review the stages of Saad Al-Saghir’s case.
The trial of Saad Al-Saghir
On the morning of September 10, 2024, the authorities at Cairo International Airport arrested the artist Saad Al-Saghir while returning from America on board an EgyptAir plane in possession of narcotic drugs.
During his return from America after performing at a party, and during his search, narcotic substances listed in the Egyptian drug lists were found in his possession. He was taken to the prosecution, which ordered his detention for 4 days and that he be presented to forensic medicine to conduct an analysis of the narcotic substances.
The next morning, a special mission took Saad Al-Saghir from a prison cell to the Forensic Medicine Department to conduct an analysis to determine the extent of his use of narcotic substances. He was returned after being examined in custody.
On September 12, the opposition judge in Cairo decided to renew the detention of singer Saad Al-Saghir for 15 days pending investigation, accusing him of possessing narcotic drugs and attempting to smuggle drugs from America to Egypt, through Cairo International Airport.
Referring Saad Al-Saghir to trial
On September 16, the Public Prosecution ordered that the accused – detained – be referred to the competent criminal court. To punish him for what he was accused of committing, including the possession of the two narcotic substances, hashish and tramadol. With the intention of dealing in cases other than those permitted by law.
The investigation authorities listened to Saad Al-Saghir’s statements and they came as follows: What happened is that I traveled to America about 4 days ago. I was going to work and give two concerts for the one who organized them, and he was the one who requested me in America and organized the two concerts for me, and after they finished, he gave me a gift of a set of vapes and electronic cigarettes and said, “Give them your band.” Because he knows that I don’t smoke cigarettes, and I knew they were regular cigarettes, so I took them and got on the plane from America and I was going back. There is transit in Egypt in Doha, Qatar. I had one bag in which I wore two suits, and in it was the black bag with vape cigarettes and electronic cigarettes inside – which astonished me, and I arrived at Cairo airport before dawn.
Saad Al-Saghir added in his confessions before the investigation authorities: I found a customs person asking me what you have with me. I told him I only had a few vape cigarettes, and he said, “Give me this vape bag, it will be customs-free.” He took the bag and opened it and found in the bag about 19 vape cigarette devices, and he said that 9 of them had a not-so-nice smell. I told him what it means, and he said it means good? I told him to check because they are all the same, and he said no, these 9 are not good, and he came and returned the rest of the vape cigarettes and the bag to me and took the 9 he said were, and that is all that happened.
The competent authorities decided to set October 27 to consider the first session of Saad Al-Saghir’s trial on charges of possessing the two narcotic substances, hashish and tramadol, with the intention of taking them.
The first session of Saad Al-Saghir’s trial
The first session of Saad Al-Saghir’s trial was held in the North Cairo Court, and witnessed his appearance in the dock.
The court asked a question to Saad Al-Saghir, who was accused of possessing drugs in the form of 9 vape cigarettes containing hashish and tramadol, which were found inside his luggage at Cairo Airport during his return from America, saying: Did you have drugs in the bags when you were returning from America, Saad?
Saad Al-Saghir responded to the court’s question about his possession of drugs in his luggage by denying it and said: It did not happen and I did not know that there were drugs in it. How many electronic cigarettes did someone give me as a gift, and I did not know that there was hashish in them?
The court asked Saad Al-Saghir another question about the accusation that he was consuming narcotic substances such as hashish and tramadol, and Saad replied, “I do not even smoke cigarettes, and if I drink hashish, they will execute me. I take Tramadol for my own eyes, and I have a medical certificate to prove the truth of my words.”
The North Cairo Criminal Court, held in Abbasiya, decided to postpone the first session of Saad Al-Saghir’s trial, on charges of possessing the two narcotic substances, hashish and tramadol, with the intention of taking them, to the November 25 session, with his continued detention and his presentation to forensic medicine.