Turkish passenger ‘slandered UAE leaders’, court hears

ABU DHABI // A Turkish passenger lost his temper as a customs official inspected his luggage and slandered UAE leaders, an Abu Dhabi court heard on Tuesday.
The passenger is also accused of resisting arrest and threatening customs officers.
The customs official told Abu Dhabi Criminal Court that when he started to inspect the defendant’s luggage, he started yelling.
“Since he was speaking in a foreign language that I don’t understand, I went to the supervisor on duty to inform him of the situation,” the official said.
“The supervisor went back with me and spoke with the defendant in his language, and instructed me to continue my procedures.”
However, when the official started to inspect, the defendant objected again, so he went back to the supervisor, who summoned the defendant to his office, the official said.
The supervisor told the court that when he first approached the defendant, and spoke to him in English, the man smiled and said there was no problem. The supervisor then asked the customs official to resume his work.
When the supervisor was called for help again and summoned the defendant for the second time to his office to explain the rules of Abu Dhabi Customs, the supervisor said that “while we were walking to my office he told me, ‘I know what the problem is: I am Turkish and travelling from Turkey and leaders here don’t like our political figures’.”
“I informed security about the incident and we summoned him out of the office, so he started threatening us and said, ‘You will all go to Turkey and I will show you what I will do to all of you there,’” the supervisor said.
He said the defendant was hysterical and slapping himself.
The case was adjourned until October 6.
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