Bribery charge for Dubai jail guard

DUBAI // A Central Jail guard has been charged with bribery after allegedly asking for Dh6,000 (US$1,630) to smuggle a gram of hashish to a prisoner. The Dubai policeman, AS, 25, was arrested in front of Mercato Mall in Jumeirah on September 19. He was charged in the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday with accepting a bribe as a public official and resisting arrest.

The prisoner, identified as KJ, told prosecutors that he knew the guard from the prison's clinic, which he often visited to receive prescription drugs for a psychological condition. He said the defendant one day asked him if he "wanted to amuse myself just before the Eid holidays", adding that the guard told him he could provide him with hashish. The prisoner said he asked the guard to give him a day to decide, but instead informed the jail's director, Major Abdel Hakim Ahmed, who referred the case to the Dubai Police monetary crimes division.

Investigators told the prisoner to go ahead and make a deal. The defendant asked for Dh6,000 to provide one gram of hashish and the prisoner agreed, according to prosecutors. The prisoner later contacted the defendant by phone, they said, and told him that someone would meet him outside the mall at 2am on September 19. That evening, four undercover officers were deployed around the mall's car park, where the defendant made contact with one of the officers. After the money was exchanged, the officer made a signal and AS was surrounded by the officers.

AS allegedly threw one of them to the ground and attempted to escape. Prosecutors presented the court with the defendants phone records showing he had made contact with the prisoner. The presiding judge, Fahmy Mounir Fahmy, adjourned the hearing to April 14 when witnesses are scheduled to appear. [e-mail]