Canadian tourist jailed for insults

Dubai // A Canadian tourist was yesterday jailed for a month for insulting a senior police officer. The Lebanese-born woman, identified as TH, 37, was taken to Bur Dubai police station in the early hours of January 6 by officers who suspected she was drunk, the Dubai Misdemeanours Court was told. The woman then started kicking and screaming, prosecutors said.

When a senior officer intervened, she called him a "dog", suggested he perform an indecent act, and told him "this will be the last day of his job", they said. The senior officer, a major, filed a complaint against the woman and she was remanded in custody. Judge Zakaria Othman jailed her for insulting a police officer but cleared her of indecency. She was found guilty of illegally consuming alcohol at an earlier hearing and fined Dh2,000.

The woman had denied all the charges, and said the incident began when an officer screamed at her to take her leg off a chair while she was waiting for officers to take a blood sample from her. She told the court she had only told him not to treat people like animals and had politely requested his name. She said the major then tried to intimidate her by shoving his identification in her face. The woman has filed an appeal, which will be heard in August.

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