One of the most senior Muslim police officers in Britain has appeared in court charged in connection with a scuffle in a restaurant.
Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei, 47, is charged with misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice.
He appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court and was bailed to appear again at Southwark Crown Court on August 5.
Dizaei, president of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), has been suspended from the force since last September.
Wearing a pink tie and shirt with a black suit, Dizaei spoke only to confirm his name during the five-minute hearing. He was represented by high-profile human rights solicitor Imran Khan, who declined to comment to reporters outside the court.
The allegations follow an investigation by officials from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
They are linked to an incident outside the Middle Eastern Yas restaurant in Kensington, south west London, on July 18 last year.
Dizaei, who was wearing his uniform, arrested a young businessman called Waad Al-Baghdadi after a row in which he claimed he was poked with the mouthpiece of a hookah water pipe.
The charges accuse Dizaei of making false allegations of a crime and other acts which led to the "risk of imprisonment pending trial, and wrongful conviction and punishment", of Mr Al-Baghdadi.
He is also accused of wilfully engaging in misconduct to the extent that it amounted to an abuse of the public's trust in his office as police commander.
