'Gun threat confession was a trick'

ABU DHABI // A Palestinian man charged with using a gun told the criminal court yesterday that police tricked him into signing a false confession after telling him his first statement had grammatical mistakes. AM, the Palestinian, and HR and SS, both Emiratis, denied possessing a weapon and ammunition at the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance. AM also denied using a gun to make threats. He remains in custody but the other two are free on bail.

In court, AM said: "I was questioned by a police officer who left ... Another officer came and asked me to repeat everything I said to the other officer." He said the second officer told him he needed to sign a second confession because the first had errors. "He was showering me with all kinds of verbal abuse; he called me names and cursed my family," AM said. "I was also beaten, only God knows what they did to me."

He said the next day, the first officer asked him about confessing to possessing weapons and making threats. He told him he did not make those admissions. Prosecutors said AM made threats to a person on the phone, then went to the man's office in Khalidiya with a gun and threatened him. The judge adjourned the case until August 22. [e-mail]