Dubai: A jail warden has denied the charge of requesting a Dh6,000 bribe to smuggle hashish to an inmate who is serving imprisonment in a drug case.

When the 25-year-old Emirati first policeman [a jail warden at Dubai Central Prison] appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance, he pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors accused the first policeman, A.S., of abusing his job as a jail warden and requesting a bribe from the Emirati inmate, K.J., to smuggle hashish for him.

According to the chargesheet, the prosecutors accused A.S. with requesting bribe, assaulting an Emirati first corporal, M.W., and resisting arrest.

When Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir levelled the charges against A.S., the latter denied his charges and contended in courtroom four that the incident did not happen.

K.J. testified that the incident happened after he befriended A.S. while serving his prison term.

"We got acquainted because we used to meet a lot in prison. We used to chat a lot and he knew that I was using medical pills for my mental illness… He once asked me ‘would you like to entertain yourself?' When I asked him what he meant, he immediately replied that he was ready to support me with hashish.

"I asked him for few days time to think. I informed the prison's director, who connected me to a police major… the latter asked me to act as if I accepted his offer and see how much he required me to pay. That act was part of a sting operation to lure the suspect," alleged K.J. in his statement to prosecutors. Prosecution records said the inmate gave the contact details of the police major [without revealing his identity] to A.S. who agreed to smuggle the drugs for Dh6,000.

Arranged

The Emirati police major testified that he arranged with the defendant to hand him the drugs and collect the Dh6,000 in front of a mall in Jumeirah.

"Later I informed him that my younger brother would meet him instead and strike the deed. M.W. [who was part of the arresting team that monitored the deed] posed as my younger brother…

"As soon as M.W. collected the money, the arresting team swooped into action and detained A.S. in a sting operation," the major claimed during prosecution questioning.

The trial continues.