A Muslim leader and former government adviser told an Australian court Wednesday that she lied to her drug dealer because she didn't want him to know that she was using cocaine during the holy month of Ramadan, dpa reported.
Iktimal Hage-Ali, 24, who is suing the state for wrongful arrest, admitted she had a cocaine habit but denied she was an addict.
Hage-Ali, who was a personal adviser on Islamic issues to then prime minister John Howard, was arrested in 2006 for drug possession. She was released without charge and just days later accepted the award for New South Wales state's Young Australian of the Year.
She is claiming the arrest was unlawful as police had no warrant and is asking to be paid compensation.
Hage-Ali also admitted to the Sydney court that she had lied to a Sydney newspaper when she said she had never been involved in illegal drugs.