Two men jailed for assaulting police officers after being asked to wear face masks

Two men convicted of assaulting and insulting Dubai Police officers after being asked to wear face masks were jailed for three months.

Two policemen stopped the men, who are both from Egypt, in the Naif area in the early hours of January 29 for not wearing face masks, Dubai Criminal Court heard.

“They were part of a group of four but only two of them were not wearing masks,” one of the police officers said.

One of the accused, 46, was issued with a fine for flouting Covid-19 rules, which he attempted to pay to the officers.

“I told him it wasn’t my duty to receive cash and asked him for his identification card,” the officer said.

He then discovered the man's ID was confiscated for a previous mask offence.

The officers asked the accused to go to the police station, but he attempted to run.

“We caught him after he bumped into a lamp post and fell,” the officer said.

The accused insulted police officers by using inappropriate language, and then punched and shoved them, the court heard.

The second man, 32, was arrested for filming the incident and insulting officers after they asked him to stop.

Both men were convicted of physical assault and insulting the police.

They will be deported after serving their prison terms.