News
81-year-old 'impersonated' security officer
Dubai Courts (AFP)
An 81-year old Belgian of Arab origin accused of impersonating a security officer claims that his case is over a misunderstanding because he is hearing impaired.
AS is accused of falsely claiming to be a security officer when he visited the Dubai TV News Centre so he could pressurise the son of a business associate. But his lawyer told a judge in the Dubai Court of Misdemeanour yesterday that the incident was a misunderstanding, as AS is hearing impaired.
When Judge Ibrahim Khalil Abu Shamma heard the defence, he laughed and argued with AS’s lawyer that even if the accused did not hear properly, it was irrelevant to oral claims he had made.
However, the lawyer insisted on his defence and told the court that he had a document seeking a medical test for the accused.
Judge Shamma then tested the accused by asking him about his age. The accused answered the question without the need for the judge to make his question louder than normal. The situation was similar when the judge asked him his name.
In the incident concerned, AS allegedly visited the Dubai TV News Centre to ask if someone identified as Ali Al Azb was working there.
The receptionist inquired with administration officer Waleed Mohammed about the person. Mr Mohammed testified before the court that he went to talk directly to AS.
Mr Mohammed said that he assured AS that the employee working for Dubai TV was Mohammed Al Azb and not Ali Al Azb, whom he had asked for.
When the administration officer asked AS who he was, the accused claimed to be a security staffer or to have security-related documents.
When it appeared suspicious, police were notified.
After hearing Mr Mohammed’s testimony, the accused told the judge that he had never seen or talked to the witness.
The prosecution investigation sheet alleges the accused had intentionally wanted to visit the son of the person he had a business dispute with, with the aim of pressurising the son. It alleges he tried to scare his disputant by claiming he had security summoning papers with him and claimed to the receptionist he was a security officer seeking to hand over the papers.
In an earlier session, the court had asked Dubai TV for the control camera recordings and yesterday was told that such a recording could not be supplied, since all recordings were deleted after one month and the incident occurred on February 11.
The judge adjourned the court until August 22 for the lawyer to submit his defence.