Drago
5th April 2010, 06:32 AM
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1035573/kissing-uk-couple-lose-dubai-jail-appeal
Kissing UK couple lose Dubai jail appeal
"The court has upheld the verdict of the court of first instance," the lawyer, Khalaf al-Hosani, told AFP.
The Britons had been on bail since their arrest in November last year, when an Emirati woman accused them of kissing in a restaurant in the trendy Jumeirah Beach Residence neighbourhood.
The pair have been named in the British press as Ayman Najafi, 24, a British expat, and tourist Charlotte Adams, 25, whose surname was previously reported as Lewis.
They said they only kissed on the cheek, but pleaded guilty to charges of consuming alcohol.
The two are entitled to challenge the sentence in the cassation court, the highest court which can review cases in the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf state made up of seven members including Dubai.
They were convicted in January and sentenced to one month in prison, but were released on bail with their passports held by the authorities, Hosani said.
The lawyer said he would discuss with the defendants whether they wish to take the case to the cassation court, but he said "the hope is dim" of overturning the verdict.
Hosani had told court last month that the only witness, a 38-year-old Emirati woman, had presented different statements.
"She told the police that she saw them kissing, while she told the prosecution that her children saw them," he said, adding the defence is arguing that the couple only kissed on the cheek "as a greeting" which is allowed.
Dubai, which despite its pro-Western outlook still adheres to certain strict Islamic rules and bans sex out of wedlock, is a popular destination for British tourists.
Around 1.1 million Britons visited the United Arab Emirates in 2009, and more than 100,000 British nationals live in the country.
In 2008, a British couple, Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer, were convicted of having sex on the beach in Dubai but an appeals court suspended their three-month jail term.
Acors and Palmer, both their thirties, were expelled from the Gulf Arab country, however, and fined 1,000 dirhams ($A294) for drinking alcohol.
A mother-of-two and her alleged lover, a fellow Briton, were convicted of adultery and jailed for two months in June 2009 after her estranged British husband tipped off police who caught the couple leaving a Dubai hotel at 2:30am.
The British Foreign Office warns Britons travelling to the UAE that the Muslim country has strict rules on public displays of affection and points out women should dress modestly in public.
"Proportionally, Britons are most likely to be arrested in the UAE than any other country in the world," says the travel advice, also highlighting the UAE authorities' zero tolerance of possession of drugs.
I'll try and tread lightly on this matter, since I prefer not to question the beliefs of others, particularly when it is on their turf and they have the right to uphold the law however they see fit, but I must say that I find this fairly hard to take.
To be placed in jail for a month for the crime of kissing? It seems to me that, of all the problems in the world, kissing is not something that should be punishable by a month in prison.
Like I said, it really isn't my place to be treading on the beliefs in Dubai, since this UK couple were visitors in their country, and were punished in much the same way that anyone else would have been (perhaps even lighter than a local would have received), but it confirms my petty fears - that I don't want to venture out of western society, for fear that things that I may find simple and benign would be viewed so radically differently elsewhere that I could end up in such a situation.
Opinions? Or am I biting too much onto the media's teat with this one?
Kissing UK couple lose Dubai jail appeal
"The court has upheld the verdict of the court of first instance," the lawyer, Khalaf al-Hosani, told AFP.
The Britons had been on bail since their arrest in November last year, when an Emirati woman accused them of kissing in a restaurant in the trendy Jumeirah Beach Residence neighbourhood.
The pair have been named in the British press as Ayman Najafi, 24, a British expat, and tourist Charlotte Adams, 25, whose surname was previously reported as Lewis.
They said they only kissed on the cheek, but pleaded guilty to charges of consuming alcohol.
The two are entitled to challenge the sentence in the cassation court, the highest court which can review cases in the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf state made up of seven members including Dubai.
They were convicted in January and sentenced to one month in prison, but were released on bail with their passports held by the authorities, Hosani said.
The lawyer said he would discuss with the defendants whether they wish to take the case to the cassation court, but he said "the hope is dim" of overturning the verdict.
Hosani had told court last month that the only witness, a 38-year-old Emirati woman, had presented different statements.
"She told the police that she saw them kissing, while she told the prosecution that her children saw them," he said, adding the defence is arguing that the couple only kissed on the cheek "as a greeting" which is allowed.
Dubai, which despite its pro-Western outlook still adheres to certain strict Islamic rules and bans sex out of wedlock, is a popular destination for British tourists.
Around 1.1 million Britons visited the United Arab Emirates in 2009, and more than 100,000 British nationals live in the country.
In 2008, a British couple, Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer, were convicted of having sex on the beach in Dubai but an appeals court suspended their three-month jail term.
Acors and Palmer, both their thirties, were expelled from the Gulf Arab country, however, and fined 1,000 dirhams ($A294) for drinking alcohol.
A mother-of-two and her alleged lover, a fellow Briton, were convicted of adultery and jailed for two months in June 2009 after her estranged British husband tipped off police who caught the couple leaving a Dubai hotel at 2:30am.
The British Foreign Office warns Britons travelling to the UAE that the Muslim country has strict rules on public displays of affection and points out women should dress modestly in public.
"Proportionally, Britons are most likely to be arrested in the UAE than any other country in the world," says the travel advice, also highlighting the UAE authorities' zero tolerance of possession of drugs.
I'll try and tread lightly on this matter, since I prefer not to question the beliefs of others, particularly when it is on their turf and they have the right to uphold the law however they see fit, but I must say that I find this fairly hard to take.
To be placed in jail for a month for the crime of kissing? It seems to me that, of all the problems in the world, kissing is not something that should be punishable by a month in prison.
Like I said, it really isn't my place to be treading on the beliefs in Dubai, since this UK couple were visitors in their country, and were punished in much the same way that anyone else would have been (perhaps even lighter than a local would have received), but it confirms my petty fears - that I don't want to venture out of western society, for fear that things that I may find simple and benign would be viewed so radically differently elsewhere that I could end up in such a situation.
Opinions? Or am I biting too much onto the media's teat with this one?