Dubai A suspect alleged in court yesterday that policemen demanded his Dh50,000 and a car he won as bribe to release him after his arrest for possessing alcohol.
"I am not a briber… I am not guilty. They asked me for a bribe to release me. When I told them I was heading to Jebel Ali to collect a Lexus car I had won in Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), they asked me to give them the car for my release. When I told them that I would take a Dh50,000 encashment, they asked me to pay them Dh25,000 each… and that's what happened," said the 35-year-old Indian banking clerk when he defended himself at the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Prosecutors accused 35-year-old A.K. with offering three policemen Dh50,000 cash and a Lexus car in bribe in order to release him after his arrest for possessing liquor. He was additionally charged with possessing alcohol for trading purposes.
"Your honour, I have been working in the banking industry for nearly 13 years. Never in my life had I ever offered or accepted bribe. I did possess alcohol but I am not guilty on the bribery charges," A.K. told Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout in courtroom 9 on Sunday.
One of the reportedly bribed policemen, an Emirati police corporal, testified that they suspected A.K.'s vehicle and stopped him in Jebel Ali.
"We chased him down and stopped him from running away, although he resisted arrest. He offered us Dh50,000 and the Lexus car [which he claimed he won in DSF] for his release… 300 whisky bottles were seized in his car," the corporal claimed in his prosecution statement.
A judgment will be heard on May 18.
