DUBAI// A man from Saudi Arabia “disrespected religion” while trying to board a plane drunk, Dubai Criminal Court was told.
On January 14 at nearly 10pm, police were contacted by a Moroccan who worked at the boarding counter in terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport.
“He came to me asking for a boarding pass and he was completely drunk, so I told him he could not get on the plane in this condition and asked him politely to grab a cup of coffee at the cafe,” said the 45-year-old customer service agent.
About five minutes later the man returned but was still drunk so he asked him to drink more coffee before boarding.
“He suddenly hit me on the waist then showered me with insults before he used foul language to talk about God,” said the airport employee who called police.
The Moroccan dropped charges against the defendant. However, he was referred to court on charges of blasphemy.
The 27-year-old denied the charge in court.
The next hearing will be on August 4.
salamir@thenational.ae