Emirati and Iranian policemen jailed for accepting bribes in Dubai

DUBAI // Two policemen have been convicted of taking bribes after they were recorded asking an undercover source for a Dh500 in order to let him go.

Police were tipped of that the Emirati and Iranian officers were asking for bribes of between Dh500 and Dh1,000.

A Bangladeshi man who worked as a police source was assigned to approach them while wearing a recording device.

“We had him be in the same place as the officers and told him to act suspiciously so that the pair would approach him,” said a police lieutenant.

He said that on December 27 last year in Al Muraqqabat the defendants approached the Bangladeshi and asked him for his papers. He immediately told them he was in the country after overstaying his visa.

“They took me into the patrol car and drove for a while then said if I paid them Dh500 they would let me go. I paid them but they didn’t know it was police money I gave them. Then they told me to leave but I signalled to police and they arrested both men,” said the Bangladeshi.

When confronted with the recording of their conversation, both officers said the Bangladeshi had insisted on handing them money, but they pushed his hand away and the money away and threatened to take him into custody.

The Emirati, 27, denied a charge of seeking and accepting bribes, while the Iranian, 39, denied a charge of aiding and abetting when they appeared at Dubai Criminal Court.

Both were convicted of all charges and each were sentenced to a year in jail and fined Dh5,000.

The Iranian will be deported after serving his term.