DUBAI // Three prisoners threatened to burn down their cell and then slashed their wrists and arms because prison officers refused to take them to hospital, a court has heard.
Prosecutors charged them with threatening to set fire to a police station, and attempted suicide.
RM, 26, AA, 25 and AM, 25, all Emirati, were being held at Rashidiya police station in August on drugs charges, according to court records.
"I received a call from the duty officer telling me that some inmates had attempted to commit suicide," a station officer told prosecutors.
"When I arrived at the scene the men were telling us that if they were not taken to hospital they would burn down their cell."
When their request was denied, the men slashed their arms with razor blades. Paramedics were notified and the men's wounds were treated.
A report issued by the medical examiner showed that RM and AA both had deep cuts severing veins in their left wrists, and AM had a 10cm cut on his right arm over a vein.
The men denied the charges and will appear in court again next month.
