Innocent peck lands British pair in trouble
Source: Agencies |
March 15, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A BRITISH pair caught kissing in public in Dubai face up to a month in jail in the Gulf Arab emirate for indecency after an Emirati mother complained her child had seen their indiscretion.
The pair, a British man living in Dubai and a female friend, were arrested in November on accusations of kissing and touching each other intimately in public and consuming alcohol, their lawyer said. They were ordered jailed for a month.
The case is the third time in under two years in which Britons have hit the headlines by falling foul of decency laws in Dubai, a popular place for Western tourists and expatriates.
A lawyer for the pair, who launched an appeal yesterday, said there had been no inappropriate kissing and the two were just friends. A verdict in the appeal is expected on April 4.
"There was no lip kissing. It was just a normal greeting that is not considered offensive," lawyer Khalaf al-Hosani told the court, adding the complainant's testimony was contradictory.
The British man's mother in London said her son, Ayman Najafi, had vowed to clear his name.
"My Ayman is a good boy, he's very wise and mature. I can't believe it," his mother Maida Najafi was quoted as saying in The Independent. "He knows the rules over there. He would never do that. He wouldn't even do it over here."
The pair, free on bail, were also fined 1,000 dirhams (US$272) for illegal consumption of alcohol, the lawyer said. They were to be deported after the completion of their jail sentence.
Dubai's foreign population has expanded rapidly in recent years as expatriates flocked to the trade and tourism hub for its tax-free earnings and year-round sunshine.
The pair, a British man living in Dubai and a female friend, were arrested in November on accusations of kissing and touching each other intimately in public and consuming alcohol, their lawyer said. They were ordered jailed for a month.
The case is the third time in under two years in which Britons have hit the headlines by falling foul of decency laws in Dubai, a popular place for Western tourists and expatriates.
A lawyer for the pair, who launched an appeal yesterday, said there had been no inappropriate kissing and the two were just friends. A verdict in the appeal is expected on April 4.
"There was no lip kissing. It was just a normal greeting that is not considered offensive," lawyer Khalaf al-Hosani told the court, adding the complainant's testimony was contradictory.
The British man's mother in London said her son, Ayman Najafi, had vowed to clear his name.
"My Ayman is a good boy, he's very wise and mature. I can't believe it," his mother Maida Najafi was quoted as saying in The Independent. "He knows the rules over there. He would never do that. He wouldn't even do it over here."
The pair, free on bail, were also fined 1,000 dirhams (US$272) for illegal consumption of alcohol, the lawyer said. They were to be deported after the completion of their jail sentence.
Dubai's foreign population has expanded rapidly in recent years as expatriates flocked to the trade and tourism hub for its tax-free earnings and year-round sunshine.
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