Dubai: A convict has been accused of deliberately starting a fire inside the prison cell where he is serving a lengthy imprisonment for raping a teenage boy in 2007.

The 43-year-old Emirati convict, A.K., was said to have endangered lives of other prisoners when he started a fire inside Dubai Central Jail’s solitary confinement section in November.

Prosecutors accused A.K. of arson and risking the lives of other prisoners.

The convict, who has Aids, denied the accusation when he entered an innocent plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

“The fire expert claimed in his statement that I started the fire with matchsticks. This is impossible and illogical … the search measurements are strictly tight that we cannot even bring in a lighter into the jail. I want to hear his statement,” the defendant told the presiding judge.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said A.K. used matchsticks to set a piece of cloth on fire and endangered other prisoners’ lives.

The 43-year-old contended: “I was not confined alone in the section … there were other prisoners. I did not start the fire. Why would I do such a thing? Our shaikhs are building our country and beautifying it, then why would I ruin that? The UAE is my country as well …”

A police major testified to prosecutors that the incident happened when the fire alarm system was set off at the solitary confinement section at A.K.’s cell at 6.30pm.

“When I arrived at the defendant’s cell, I saw him smoking a cigarette. There was a white piece of cloth burning beside him at the cell’s entrance. One of the jail wardens immediately put out the fire with his foot … it was a small fire. When asked why he started the fire, A.K. claimed that he was irritated and needed to capture the prison management’s attention to attend to his personal requests,” the major claimed.

Records said A.K., whose medical reports confirmed he had Aids and hepatitis C, is currently serving a 15-year term for raping a French teenager at knifepoint in a desert area in Al Barsha in 2007.

A ruling will be heard on May 24.