DUBAI// A man who was under arrest and in handcuffs attacked a police officer and punched him in the face.
“I didn’t do that,” said the 34-year-old Filipino when he appeared at Dubai Criminal Court charged with possessing amphetamine to sell and consuming drugs.
“True, I had drugs with me, but it was all for my personal use,” the defendant said.
He was arrested, along with two compatriots, a 30-year-old man and woman, 45, on August 5 last year by officers from the anti-narcotics department.
“As we parked in the department’s car park, we got the suspects out of the car then he suddenly ran towards my colleague and punched him strongly in the face. We restrained him as he tried to do it again,” said an Emirati policeman.
A police corporal said he asked the defendant why he had attacked his colleague. “He told me it was his way to object against the arrest of the female defendant,” said the officer.
The defendant, who had a cut on his upper lip, claimed that he had been assaulted by officers.
A medical report found the lip injury was minor while other injuries in his mouth were caused by chronic gum disease.
The other man and woman were not in court to enter pleas.
The next hearing will be on February 16.
salamir@thenational.ae
