Dubai: A detainee has been accused of deliberately setting a police detention facility on fire and risking detainees’ lives because he wanted to be allowed to have cigarettes. The 31-year-old Emirati man was said to have been detained over a criminal case and when he was not allowed to smoke, he set his mattress on fire in April 2014.
The man was believed to have set his mattress on fire with a lighter and put it in the dining section, according to records, and then he threatened to set the whole police station on fire if he was not given cigarettes.
Primary interrogations showed that the suspect had covered the CCTV cameras with newspapers before setting the place on fire.
Prosecutors accused the Emirati of arson, risking lives of detainees and police personnel at the detention centre, threatening policemen and cursing them. He was also accused of wrecking the detention centre on purpose.
According to the accusation sheet, the suspect caused damages worth Dh44,600 to the premises and threatened the policemen by saying ‘if you do not get me cigarettes I will burn the detention centre in the morning’.
Jail wardens did not produce the suspect before the Dubai Court of First Instance where he was scheduled to enter his plea on Monday.
A police lieutenant told prosecutors that he was the duty officer when a colleague informed him that the dining section of the police station was on fire at 4pm.
“I rushed towards the fire spot and discovered that the dining section was completely gutted by fire. Upon checking the surveillance cameras, it was discovered that the suspect had covered the CCTV cameras with newspapers before he set the mattress ablaze. The suspect had constantly threatened to set the place on fire if he was not given food and cigarettes,” the lieutenant told prosecutors.
Records did not mention why the case was referred to court after three years.
Presiding judge Urfan Omar adjourned the hearing until the suspect is produced before court on June 29.
