Dubai: An Uzbek woman has been charged with paying Dh200 in "hush money" to a policeman not to book her and her friend because they were caught intoxicated.
Prosecutors accused the 29-year-old Uzbek woman visitor with bribing a policeman to let them go instead of booking her and her compatriot friend after they were caught imbibed under the building where they stayed.
Jail wardens failed to bring 29-year-old J.T., from her detention to the Dubai Court of First Instance where she was scheduled to be prosecuted yesterday.
According to the chargesheet, prosecutors said J.T. offered the Sudanese policeman Dh200 as bribe to release them instead of taking them to the police station.
Records said the other is currently being tried before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court for consuming liquor.
The 47-year-old Sudanese policeman testified that he heard the two women shouting under their building in Al Hamriya.
"While my colleague and I were patrolling in the vicinity, we heard loud noises… we headed towards the voice and saw the women in the parking lot. They alleged that their friend was the one who made the loud noise before he left. I asked them to follow us in the police car because they seemed drunk," the policeman claimed in his prosecution statement.
Records said J.T. took out Dh200 from her purse and handed it to the policeman.
"She remained silent when I asked her why she gave me the money… I understood that she was offering me a bribe to release them. I took the money and then reported the incident to my superior at the station," alleged the policeman.
Prosecution records quoted J.T. confessing that after she and her friend consumed liquor, they went down before the police arrested them. She alleged that she thought the policeman would release them when she gave him the money.
Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad adjourned the case until June 14 for the suspect to be brought from her detention.
