A MAN who caused havoc at Bahrain International Airport after screaming “Allahu Akbar” and repeating the declaration of faith (Shahada) in front of shocked travellers was allegedly high on crystal meth, a court heard.
The 30-year-old Pakistani appeared at the High Criminal Court yesterday where he denied using drugs, assaulting policemen and resisting arrest.
The unemployed man was arrested in October after he walked into the airport and started causing chaos before kneeling down on the ground.
He is then said to have assaulted policemen after being approached by officers as he repeated “it’s time for self-defence”.
An airport official described how he tried to calm down the defendant who looked in an abnormal state before turning violent.
“I saw him (the defendant) in distress as he was shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and repeating the declaration of faith (Shahada) in the middle of the airport,” the 20-year-old Bahraini told prosecutors.
“I asked him to calm down but he started calling me by random names.
“He was acting strangely and he then got down on his knees and started crying and then laughing.
“He said ‘if you don’t execute me, I will commit suicide’ and pushed us to the ground.”
The defendant later said he was using shabu and he thought he was being followed by “gang members”.
“I was with my friend and we got high using shabu,” he said in his statement to prosecutors.
“I then got into an argument with my friend and he said that he would set gang members on me.
“I was terrified and ran out of his vehicle. I then found myself at the airport and saw a large group of travellers and thought they were members of a gang after me.”
The defendant has a previous arrest warrant against him for allegedly using drugs.
Another Pakistani man is also standing trial in the case in connection with using drugs.
The trial has been adjourned until Monday for review.
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