Dubai tourist in dock for issuing life threats to hotel guest

Dubai - A police officer said they were alerted about an incident - wherein life threats were issued - at a hotel in Jumeirah.

A tourist has stood trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance after he allegedly terrified a hotel guest - he did not even know - with criminal threats.
The court heard how the 28-year-old Russian man stormed into a hotel in Jumeirah on April 4. He asked to speak to a guest and then terrified him. He allegedly told him "you should come now because another chance might be late for your life". A complaint was lodged at Bur Dubai police station.
A police officer said they were alerted about an incident - wherein life threats were issued - at a hotel in Jumeirah.
"It was around 8pm on April 4. We went to the hotel and spoke to the complainant - a Ukrainian. He recounted how an unknown man had come to the hotel and sought through the reception desk to talk to him on the phone. The complainant said that the suspect threatened to kill him if he did not go down to see him."
After checking the hotel CCTV cameras, the police tracked down the suspect and apprehended him in Business Bay on April 8.
"The accused admitted he had gone to the hotel and talked to the guest. He claimed he had a call earlier from a Chechen friend who was then in Russia. The latter had another friend who had been looking for the complainant for a while and learned that he was staying at that hotel in Dubai," the police officer told the prosecutor.
The accused told the police that he falsely claimed to the hotel receptionist that he was also a guest there and wanted to speak to his friend. "The accused then told the guest to come down to have a talk with the other man (who was in Russia). After hanging up, the guest called the reception back and the accused heard him asking for the police to be called."
During a parade of suspects, including the defendant on trial, two receptionists recognised the accused as the one who went to the hotel and talked to the guest.
A 23-year-old Lebanese receptionist said that the accused had come around 7.50pm.
"He said he was a guest and wanted to have dinner. The room number he gave was then vacant. I told him the restaurants were then closed. He came back later and asked about the victim, claiming he was his friend."
She recalled that the two men spoke for about a minute in Russian, which she did not understand. "Everything seemed fine. But shortly after the suspect's quiet departure, the guest called the reception again. He wanted us to call the police right away, to stop the suspect from leaving and to call the manager. He was screaming and sounded really scared. I tried to calm him down."
The court is expected to hand down a verdict on October 25.
mary@khaleejtimes.com 

• Dubai