Transit passenger jailed for lewd gesture

Defendant disregarded policeman’s caution against carrying dangerous items

Legal and Court Correspondent

Adrunk air traveller, who exposed his private parts before a policeman who barred him from boarding an aircraft after finding prohibited items in his bag, will be jailed for three months.

The policeman was on duty at the Dubai International Airport’s transit section when the 34-year-old man arrived at the checkpoint prior to boarding the aircraft in January.

When the scanning device exposed a number of strange metals, the policeman asked the transit passenger to step aside with him to search his carry-on luggage. The policeman found plenty of batteries in the bag and informed the Pakistani man that it was not permitted to carry such items as it posed a risk to the safety of the other passengers and the aircraft. The defendant turned rowdy and behaved rudely with the policeman and insisted on taking the batteries. The policeman stressed that carrying batteries on aircraft is dangerous and punishable by law.

The defendant, who had been flying from Chile and was drunk, cursed and insulted the policeman before flashing his private parts.

Token apology

Soon after he had made the indecent gesture, the defendant, heavily drunk that he was, fell to the floor unconscious. He regained consciousness at the police office at the airport and when he realised that the policeman wanted to take legal action against him, he immediately apologised.

In March, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of assaulting and insulting the policeman, gesturing indecently at him in a public place and consuming liquor. The accused appealed the verdict but presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif upheld his jail term.