Salesman in court over phone death threat

Salesman said that even if he got deported, he would sneak back into the country and kill the Canadian, the court heard.

DUBAI // A salesman threatened to kill a Canadian man if he did not drop a complaint filed against him at the Rashidiya police station, a Dubai court heard yesterday.

The suspect, MA, 27, from Pakistan, called the victim, identified as JJ, on April 3, 2010, and told him to drop the case filed against him and friends, noting it would lead to a prison sentence and deportation, court records showed.

Prosecutors said MA told JJ that even if he got deported, he would sneak back into the country and kill him.

Court records did not elaborate on the nature of the case filed against MA and his friends, nor their names. MA denied the charge before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance.

He told the judge he called JJ to persuade him to drop the case, but did not threaten him.

Prosecutors said an Egyptian and a Bahraini, both friends of JJ, testified that MA threatened to kill the victim.

JJ told prosecutors MA called him twice, but only threatened him during the second call.

MA told Judge Fahmi Mounir Fahmi that the witnesses were of Arab nationalities and they could not have understood the Punjabi dialect he used in conversations with the victim.

A verdict is expected on February 16.