Three on trial for forged testimony on divorce document

Two Emirati men who signed as witnesses on a stranger's divorce document at a notary office in 2008 have been accused of forged testimony - along with the woman - who was discovered to have been married at the time.

ABU DHABI // Two Emirati men and a woman have gone on trial after the latter asked the two men to act as witnesses on a divorce document, when in fact she was still married.

Y K, a heart surgeon, and the other man forged testimony along with H M, the Emirati woman, the Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.

Despite being total strangers, she allegedly asked them to sign a document at the notary public’s office in 2008 that stated she was divorced. It was recently discovered, however, that she had a husband at the time.

The heart surgeon argued that the notary public did not warn him against signing as a witness on the status document of a random stranger.

Y K said he has been a specialist heart surgeon for 20 years and would not intentionally sign a false document. “The incident occurred five years ago and I do not remember the details,” he said.

He claimed that the notary public had told them to sign as if it were a simple routine matter. The second defendant said: “I was on my way to the family guidance department, when a strange man asked me to be a good doer and sign as a witness for this woman. I do not know about the forgery or the woman herself, and she does not know me.”

The case was adjourned until September 24.