Man curses religion, reported to police by off-duty cop

Dubai - The 27-year-old Palestinian man was engaging in a verbal brawl with an employee at a café when he allegedly cursed his religion and used bad language.

An engineer was reported to police by an off-duty police officer who overheard him cursing religion.
The 27-year-old Palestinian man was engaging in a verbal brawl with an employee at a café when he allegedly cursed his religion and used bad language with him.
He denied charges including disrespect of religion, insulting and physically assaulting the other man, in the Court of First Instance.
The cop, who reported the incident, said it happened in August last year.
"I was at a café in Oud Metha when I overheard the defendant insulting the waiter. But what infuriated me more was when he cursed the religion while arguing with the Arab man".
The 31-year-old policeman was then off-duty but he called the Dubai police operation room. The defendant was taken into custody by CID officers shortly later.
The defendant's friend, a 27-year-old Egyptian accountant assistant, said they were with another Egyptian friend at the café when the accused had an altercation with the waiter.
They both verbally abused each other, he testified during the investigation.
The hearing has been adjourned to October 9.

• Dubai