DUBAI // A policeman who demanded cash and alcohol from a bootlegger and pimp in return for not arresting them has been jailed, along with the bootlegger.
The policeman, J M, 34, from Iran, accepted Dh7,000 a month plus 90 bottles of alcohol as bribes between 2011 and 2013. At Dubai Criminal Court on Wednesday, he was sentenced to six months in jail and fined Dh14,150.
Bangladeshi A W, 32, who was an illegal resident and ran a bootlegging and prostitution ring, was sentenced to a year in jail to be followed by deportation.
The court heard that as well as accepting payments from the bootlegger, the policeman took bribes from three other bootleggers.
A W told prosecutors that in 2011 the defendant had approached him and said he knew about his illegal activities. “He was wearing his uniform and then slapped me in the face, pulled me by my shirt and threatened to take me to the police station,” A W said. “He then asked me for Dh500 a week in return for not arresting me.”
He said that he paid him the weekly amount, which eventually rose to Dh7,000 a month.
About four weeks later, the policeman demanded that the bootlegger take him to a brothel and pay for him to have sex with a prostitute.
“I found out later from the man who ran the brothel that he was also paying money to J M to keep quiet about his business activities,” A W testified.
Police organised a sting operation in which they observed the policeman taking money from A W.
salamir@thenational.ae
