Q: I've read that at the end of police interrogations in the UAE, they print a document written in Arabic and they want you to sign it. Can you refuse to sign it? A: The official language is the language of the country, which means that all official documents in the UAE must be drafted in Arabic…

Dear Questioner, Kindly note that the official language in Arab countries is Arabic. The same rule applies worldwide. The official language is the language of the country, which means that all official documents in the UAE must be drafted in Arabic. And even if the official document is bilingual, and in case of any contradiction between the meaning of any statement between the Arabic and the other foreign language, the Arabic text will prevail. On the other hand, the Police Interrogation is a process that takes place by neutral bodies who have the law enforcement powers and they have no interest in writing something that contradicts the truth. However, the interrogated person must adhere to answer all the questions given to him and the police Interrogator has the freedom to write down whatever he deems fit. Whether it is what the Interrogated person said or not. The signature is just confirmation that the person who was questioned is the person who signed. It is not a confirmation for the statement, nor obligatory to be confirmed again as it is before the Public Prosecutor or the Court. So, your statement about what you read that the written report was the reason people get in trouble is completely incorrect. No matter what is written in the Police Report, the person who appears before the prosecutor has the right to attend together with his lawyer and a legal translator and say his statement again before a legal translator and his attorney and will be requested again to sign. If there might be any contradiction between his statement at the Police Interrogation report and his statement before the prosecutor, the later will question the person again in regards to the same point. Plus, your attorney has the right to take copies of the file from the prosecutor's office including the police report.

Signing the Arabic statement of police interrogations

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