‘Leave or I’ll set your villa on fire,’ man tells envoy

dubai — A retired man faced trial on Tuesday in the Court of First Instance on charges of blackmail and making criminal threats against an ambassador.

The court was told that the 41-year-old Emirati man threatened the ambassador, a compatriot, and intimidated him in an attempt to make him vacate his villa.

He allegedly threatened to burn him along with his family and house if he did not leave the house he had built on the land which he had bought from him.

He is also accused of trespassing into the villa’s premises.

The complainant, 39, said at around 10.30am on November 2, 2012, he received a phone call from his friend who stayed in his villa in Al Warqa. “He told me that two men, including the accused, had climbed over the fence into the villa. I advised him to stay indoors, close the door and wait for me,” he told the prosecutor.

“When I reached there I found the two men (the accused) sitting under the car shade. I asked them to leave, but they would not.

“The accused threatened to burn me together with my family and the house if I did not vacate the house which I built on the land that I had bought from him.”

The complainant added that the defendant’s friend threatened him that he would cut him into two with a sword. The case dates back to over four years ago, but it was not clear in the prosecution records why it took so long to reach the court.

The arrest was made in September 2015 by Al Qusais police.

During interrogation, the accused admitted only to the trespass charge.

“We went to the villa after a problem was reported to us. We found the two involved together with two others, including a European man. We learned the accused entered the villa with his friend without the consent of its owner,” a police sergeant said.

The defendant claimed he entered through the gate and that he was alone. He admitted during the investigation that he had sold a plot of land to the complainant who built on it later and made an investment.

The complainant presented documents proving he was the owner of the land and house. The next hearing will be held on February 26.

mary@khaleejtimes.com