DUBAI // An unemployed man used the Twitter social network to shower the Chief of Dubai Police with unfounded accusations of corruption and injustice, a court heard this morning.

The Twitter account of Lt General Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim showed several defamatory tweets from the 42-year-old Emirati ME earlier this month, heard the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours.

The tweets prompted the Lt General to lodge a complaint at the Criminal Investigations Department against ME. The court was told ME had made such accusations in the past. The police chief previously asked for a case against ME to be dismissed, in a gesture of good will.

ME was arrested at his home in Al Qusais.

During police interrogations ME said he opened a Twitter account under the name Mohammed96, which he used to post the insults.

He claimed he did so because he felt complaints he had made to the police over the past four years had been ignored.

ME denied defaming the police chief. "I didnt mean him in person, I meant his men who didn't allow me to see him several times," he said. "If he understood my words as an insult, please bail me out so I can go and apologise to him," ME said to the judge.

The next hearing will be on March 11 to allow the defense present his defence argument while he remains under custody.

salamir@thenational.ae