Ilaria De Rosa, Italian stewardess arrested in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 6 months in Saudi jail

ROME– Ilaria De Rose, the Italian stewardess has been sentenced to six months in prison on charges of possession and drug dealing after she was found with a marijuana joint concealed in her brassiere. 

 The 23-year-old flight attendant was arrested last month and has been in jail ever since awaiting her trial. 

 The 6-month sentence can be considered lenient given that in Saudi Arabia they strictly enforce Sharia Law, as the Islamic law does not differentiate between possession and drug dealing. 

 The reason for her lenient sentence is due to the intermediation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who gave her a reduced sentence. 

 A monocratic judge was also present during the trial which took place at the Italian Consulate in Jeddah, which is forty minutes away from the prison where she has been and is going to serve her sentence. 

 She will not have the possibility to appeal her sentence for the next 30 days, the consul said that the girl appears tired but overall is in good shape. 

 Ilaria maintains that she is innocent, which her family appears to believe as they have publicly supported her by saying that “their daughter could never have been in possession of drugs since, in addition to never having used them, they are perfectly aware of the risk that this can entail in countries such as Saudi Arabia, where she had lived for three months.”

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