27-year-old jobless man cleared of charges of insulting religion

dubai — A jobless man was cleared of charges of cursing Islam and the faithful on Tuesday.

The Court of First Instance found him not guilty of charges. The 27-year-old Filipino man faced two counts of insult of faith and making criminal threats. He was also accused of resisting two on-duty police officers while telling them: ‘I will let you see what I can do to you. I know important people in the country.”’

The incident was reported on October 13, 2016 when the Bur Dubai police were called to a problem at a shared accommodation in Al Badaa.

“The man who called us was the accused and he claimed a

I was surprised by his reaction as he began to scream and talk in a provocative manner with me.” Testimony, police sergeant

Pakistani man messed up with his stuff so he called the police,” a police sergeant said.

The police officers then talked to the other man. “That man told us he asked the accused to lower the sound of music during the time of prayer. When he would not listen to him he turned the music off.”

The sergeant went back to the accused and told him about the necessity to respect all religions and the sanctity of prayers, in consideration of the feelings of the other persons living in the place.

“But I was surprised by his reaction as he began to scream and talk in a provocative manner with me,” the sergeant told the prosecutor, in his testimony.

As the defendant began allegedly insulting the religion, the officer told him to stop. The officers took the accused by the patrol car later to the police station following an altercation.

The ruling remains subject to appeal by the public prosecution.

mary@khaleejtimes.com