Inmates 'attempt suicide, threaten to burn cell'

Three prisoners slashed their wrists and threatened to burn down their cell after their demands to be taken to hospital were not met, a court has been told.

DUBAI // Three inmates have attempted to commit suicide after prison officers refused to transport them to hospital, a court has heard.

Prosecutors yesterday charged the men with threatening to set fire to the police station and with attempted suicide after they cut their wrists.

The Emiratis R M, 26, A A, 25 and A M, 25, were being held at the Rashidiya police station on drug charges, records showed. The trio had been incarcerated since August.

“I received a call from the duty officer telling me that some inmates had attempted to commit suicide,” a Rashidiya police station officer told prosecutors.

“When I arrived at the scene the men were telling us that if they were not taken to hospital they would burn down their cell.”

When their request was denied, the inmates slashed their arms with razor blades. Paramedics were immediately notified and the men’s wounds were treated.

A forensic report issued by the medical examiner showed that R M and A A both had deep cuts severing the veins in their left wrists, while A M had a 10-centimetre cut on his right arm over the vein.

The men denied the charges yesterday and will appear in court again next month.

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