Dubai kissing couple face jail as appeal fails

[Dos Equis]

God Bless America.

Dubai kissing couple face jail as appeal failsApril 4, 2010

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN -- A Dubai appeals court judge has upheld the verdict against a British couple caught kissing in public.

Unless the couple makes a second appeal within 30 days, the court's decision Sunday means authorities will jail the couple for a month and then deport them. They will also be fined $300 for drinking alcohol.

Ayman Najafi and Charlotte Adams were arrested in November, accused of kissing and touching each other intimately in public -- violations of law against public indecency -- and consuming alcohol.

Najafi is a British man who lives and works in Dubai; Charlotte Adams is a British female tourist who was visiting the city-state at the time.

The couple was dining with friends at Bob's Easy Diner, one of a stretch of cafes on a popular strip behind the city's Jumeirah Beach. An Emirati woman with her family reported their behavior to police.

The foreign population has soared in Dubai in recent years as expatriates, courted by the country, flock to the booming emirate to work.

Now, expatriates outnumber locals by more than eight to one in the port city -- one of seven emirates that make up the oil-rich Gulf nation.

But the population changes and the breakneck modernization of the sheikdom has also often caused friction with the deeply conservative social and religious identity of the locals.

In 2008, a British couple were sentenced to three-month jail terms for unmarried sex and public indecency, but those were suspended on appeal.

The two were arrested on a public beach shortly after midnight. Both denied they had intercourse.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/04/dubai.kissing.couple.appeal/index.html?hpt=T2

[Skip8282]

The country does promote itself as being "modern", but they still should've repected the laws while there.

[JohnC1908]

The mistake was going there in the first place.

[the_steevo_uk]

rules are rules...you know the deal before you go. Its like drinking and driving in a foreign country and saying 'oh i didnt know the limit was only one pint here officer'...law is the law, no matter how damn stupid it might be.

[Eyeball Chambers]

God Bless America.

Dubai kissing couple face jail as appeal failsApril 4, 2010

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN -- A Dubai appeals court judge has upheld the verdict against a British couple caught kissing in public.

Unless the couple makes a second appeal within 30 days, the court's decision Sunday means authorities will jail the couple for a month and then deport them. They will also be fined $300 for drinking alcohol.

Ayman Najafi and Charlotte Adams were arrested in November, accused of kissing and touching each other intimately in public -- violations of law against public indecency -- and consuming alcohol.

Najafi is a British man who lives and works in Dubai; Charlotte Adams is a British female tourist who was visiting the city-state at the time.

The couple was dining with friends at Bob's Easy Diner, one of a stretch of cafes on a popular strip behind the city's Jumeirah Beach. An Emirati woman with her family reported their behavior to police.

The foreign population has soared in Dubai in recent years as expatriates, courted by the country, flock to the booming emirate to work.

Now, expatriates outnumber locals by more than eight to one in the port city -- one of seven emirates that make up the oil-rich Gulf nation.

But the population changes and the breakneck modernization of the sheikdom has also often caused friction with the deeply conservative social and religious identity of the locals.

In 2008, a British couple were sentenced to three-month jail terms for unmarried sex and public indecency, but those were suspended on appeal.

The two were arrested on a public beach shortly after midnight. Both denied they had intercourse.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/04/dubai.kissing.couple.appeal/index.html?hpt=T2

That doesn't sound like the name of a restaurant I'd expect to find in Dubai! 

[Bindare_Dundat]

The mistake was going there in the first place.

Exactly. You wouldn't ever see me there, nevermind being a white English woman, I think your just asking for some shit to come your way.

[24KT]

I've been following this case, and it appears rather controversial.

It appears that with the exception of the woman who reported them to the police, none of the witnesses present saw any such behaviour. the restaurants waitors etc, all say no such thing happened.

The ruler of Dubai is very modern and extremely progressive as far as middle eastern rulers go, ...and very "pro-western" for want of a better word. He is also a tireless champion of women's rights.

There is somewhat of an unwritten law in Dubai, whereby Westerners are free to engage in whatever lifestyle they so choose, as long as it doesn't upset the locals and their traditional customs. Contrary to popular opinion, alcohol is NOT illegal in Dubai... at least not for foreigners. Local residents on the other hand better not even think of consuming any. Local authorities often turn a blind eye to westerners engaging in behaviour that would normally be outlawed... unless there is a complaint made to the police. If that's the case, then you kinda might be screwed. 

[24KT]

That doesn't sound like the name of a restaurant I'd expect to find in Dubai! 

Why not? You have Chinese dim sum restaurants in the USA. italian restaurants, japanese steakhouse, indian curry houses, etc all in the USA. Why would a Bob's Easy Diner appear so out of place in Dubai... especially since the foreign population eclipses that of the locals? There is an entire cottage industry in Dubai that caters to Western tastes and sensibilities. Western style bars, restaurants, and nightclubs proliferate.

[powerpack]

A young South African woman was jailed there for 3 months last year.
Some one said she was having an affair with her boss a scuba diving instructor.
There was no proof and they both denied it.
There was no court case no nothing she just did three months in jail on some ones whim.
Her frantic parents started a web site here to get her released.
Oh and only she did the jail time not the guy.

[drkaje]

Maybe the chick complained because they were a mixed race couple.