Dubai cop's conviction for unlawful detainment of man reversed

A police lieutenant, who was sentenced to three months in jail for allegedly unlawfully detaining a man at Al Qusais police station, has had his conviction reversed by the Court of Appeals.  
The 25-year-old Saudi officer has been found guilty by the Court of First Instance in May of detaining an Indian businessman in an unlawful way and making him, under threats, issue a cheque worth Dh105,000, the sum which he had earlier received from a compatriot (also accused), as a down payment for buying his shop.    
The Indian, 22, who has been accused of aiding and abetting the officer in committing those crimes, was then sentenced to three months in jail. However, he did not file an appeal. 
The lieutenant has been cleared of the charges by the Court of Appeals.    
According to prosecution records, the case dates back to March 22, 2015.  
The businessman, 39, said that the second defendant's father came to his general trading company and expressed his intention to buy it for Dh 335,000.
"On the following day, he handed me Dh105,000 as down payment.
"However, two days later, the man told me he changed his mind. I told him to give me few days to return the sum because I spent part of it and he agreed".
One week later, he received a call from the lieutenant telling him to go to Al Qusais police station.  
"There, the officer asked me whether I received any sum from the other defendant's father and then told me to return it immediately," the businessman said.  
But when the businessman insisted that he did not have the sum, the officer locked him up in a detention cell after stripping him off his mobile phone, wallet, watch and belt and searching him, he claimed.
More than one hour and a half later, the complainant was taken out of detention and he issued a cheque to the other accused worth of the sum he had received from his father.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai