A security guard has denied molesting a woman at the ladies' toilets in a public park, saying that he was checking the place as part of his job.
The Egyptian, 28, was faced with charges of sex assault and entering the women's toilets. He denied both charges and told Dubai Criminal Court that he was doing his job by doing a routine check.
"I didn't know any woman was inside, and I didn't touch her," said the accused.
Prosecutors said that, on the morning of August 30, the woman involved, a Nepalese cleaner, arrived to Al Warqa 3 park to clean the toilets.
"He was following me from one place to another since the moment I arrived," said the woman, 27.
She said that the accused tried to chat with her about her job and salary but she asked him to leave her alone so she could finish her work. He allegedly followed her to the toilets as she cleaned and touched her shoulder.
"I kicked him out and called my supervisor, who came at once, and when he did, the accused disappeared," said the woman, adding that her supervisor promised that he would have her moved to work at a different location the following day.
"I was done working so I went to use the toilet and suddenly I saw men's shoes from under the door before the defendant unlocked the toilet with a key he had then started touching me," she said.
The guard allegedly tried to force himself on the woman but she pushed him and ran outside then called police.
The guard was arrested on site.
A verdict in expected on November 14.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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