Flight attendant acquitted of touching male colleagues butt in pub

Dubai: A flight attendant has been acquitted after being accused of groping his male colleague's buttocks.

He convinced the court that his colleague maliciously levelled molestation charges against him following a work dispute.

"I am not guilty. I didn't molest or harass him sexually," argued the Argentine attendant, A.B., when he rejected the molestation charge before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

The court cleared A.B. due to unfounded and uncorroborated evidence.

Prosecutors charged the suspect of molesting his Arab national colleague, A.M., by touching his buttocks.

A.B. strongly denied the charges and said in court: "He made up this case against me… he lodged it maliciously before the authorities. I caught him doing something wrong at work and informed our superiors. Due to the work dispute, he lodged this case against me out of malice."

The plaintiff testified to prosecutors that the defendant intentionally groped his backside while they were at a pub.

"I saw him touching A.M.'s back[side] in an obviously intentional manner," a prosecution witness testified.

An Emirati first corporal, who questioned A.B., testified that he admitted mistakenly touching the claimant's posterior.

"I touched him accidentally at the pub," the acquitted Argentine was quoted as saying in his statement to prosecutors.

Prosecutors asked the court to implement articles 121 and 356 of the Federal Penal Code, which stipulate that a suspect faces a temporary imprisonment between three years and 15 years followed by deportation.

The court dismissed the charges against A.B. The primary judgment is still subject to appeal.