DUBAI: Court upholds one-month jail sentence for couple smooching in public
A kiss on the cheek is one thing. But don't get caught smooching in public in Dubai, or you might end up serving time behind bars.
A court in the United Arab Emirates city-state upheld the one-month prison sentence Sunday of a British couple accused of locking lips and touching each other at a restaurant, in violation of public decency laws, the daily paper Gulf News reported.
Dubai resident Ayman Najafi, 24, and visitor Charlotte Adams, 25, (pictured at right) both British nationals, were arrested in November and charged with indecent behavior and public drunkenness after they were accused by an Emirati woman of locking lips at a restaurant in front of her kids.
The high-profile case is the latest in which the loose lifestyles of the United Arab Emirates' large expatriate community have run up against the prim and puritanical values of the Arabian Peninsula.
It began when the Emirati woman was dining at the 1950s-America-themed Bob's Easy Diner franchise in the upscale Jumeirah Beach Residence section of Dubai, home to many Westerners living in the city-state.
One of her kids became upset.
"My daughter told me that the accused were kissing on the mouth," the Emirati women told the court, according to a March 14 ABC News report.
"Then I spotted them doing so myself," she said. "I also saw them touching each other, as they were seated two to three meters away from our table. A number of customers witnessed the scene as well."
To hear her tell it, the two were practically on top of each other.
But ABC News cited an employee at the restaurant saying there was nothing inappropriate going on.
"They were just sitting, laughing like everyone else," the employee told ABC News. "The managers wouldn't let it happen. We know the culture of the country, and we would not allow this at all."
On second thought, maybe even that peck on the cheek is a bad idea.
-- Borzou Daragahi in Beirut
Photo: Charlotte Adams and Ayman Najafi. Credit: Facebook
Let this be a warning to ANYONE who has the slightest inclination to travel to Dubai or any other nation with fundamentalism Islamic leanings. Find somewhere else to spend your hard-earned money and BOYCOTT those nations who would force their neanderthalic standards on tourists, at least until such time as these nations decide to leave the dark ages and join the rest of the world in the 21st century.
Posted by: Verballistic | April 06, 2010 at 11:55 PM
This is why me and my wife won't be vacationing in Dubai anytime soon. We would love to go but why in the world would you go somewhere on vacation and not be able to enjoy it? St. Lucia or Grand Cayman here we come!!
Posted by: Anthony | April 06, 2010 at 08:31 PM
Jocy: What?! English, please!
Posted by: Who Dat? | April 05, 2010 at 10:54 PM
Can't understand the draw this place receives. Just another backwards country with lots of cash. And Jocy, get real. I have never heard of ANY indecency charge going much further than a fine. And "indecency" in the US involves a lot more than open mouth kissing. Save your US bashing for something a little meatier.
Posted by: RuhRoh | April 05, 2010 at 09:10 PM
Jocy said: "There are "many" complaining about the strict enforcement of these rules, to them I only would say: just imagine a US police enforcing the law in US...believe it would be far worse; specially when in US everything is charge with about 20 years in jail until you can demonstrate you are innocent; it is not on the other way around."
Jocy: Read what you just wrote. It makes no sense at all. Police in the U.S. would not bother with this innocent display of public affection. Only in the Islamic dictatorship of Dubai would this happen as it would in the other dictatorships in the region. The key word here is hypocrisy. All the Gulf States engage in the most extreme kinds of debauchery which naturally flourishes under the kind of repression the citizens of these countries endure. Prostitutes flock to the Gulf. Discos flourish in the basements of villas on the Corniche in Jeddah. Buses leaving Dahran are packed with Saudis escaping for a dirty weekend in Bahrain. So Jocy, stop with the smug holiness and embrace human nature.
Posted by: Jim W | April 05, 2010 at 08:33 PM
Here's a thought: Don't go to Dubai.
Posted by: Ryan D | April 05, 2010 at 06:53 PM
Jocy, to subscribe to the simple belief that a law is right simply because it's a law is to beg your government to be absurd, irrational and totalitarian. Of course the same principles should be applied to the US, but this article isn't about the US, nor do people spend time in jail -- one month or 20 years -- for showing affection in public. To say that this law is legitimate because it's the UAE way and the US has laws which are enforced vigorously is to condone any law, no matter how brutal or corrupt, and any repression, in any regime on earth so long as the regime takes the time to write it into a book somewhere in nine-point type.
Either you believe in moral principles -- including the rights of individuals to express themselves -- or you do not. It's pathetic that you're willing to pretzel your convictions for the dictatorship you live under, but the fact that you're living in a country where your rights are of no account to the authorities means you're probably insane to begin with.
Posted by: XoSq | April 05, 2010 at 05:48 PM
Criminal enforcement of cultural mores is always a tricky proposition for any nation. I acknowledge that Dubai has the authority to take legal action against this category of behavior, but it seems that intent of the actors is relevant. Because Dubai has many visitors and ex-pats who are unfamiliar with conservative Islamic expectations, I believe it is appropriate that police give a warning before taking official action. This is an instance where ignorance of the law might be a legitimate ground for leniency.
Jocy you have been misinformed about the legal system in the USA. Under USA law, an accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty at trial. Also, these individuals were British and I fail to understand the relevancy of your comments.
Posted by: Brad | April 05, 2010 at 05:48 PM
I am an expat here in UEA this is not my country, and I know that their rules are different than western countries; we, my husband and I, try to respect them as much as possible as many other expats do. However, I have seen my self many different inappropriate behaviors that should be sensor not only here but in our own countries. UEA's rules are clear and they have the right to defend them.
There are "many" complaining about the strict enforcement of these rules, to them I only would say: just imagine a US police enforcing the law in US... believe it would be far worse; specially when in US everything is charge with about 20 years in jail until you can demonstrate you are innocent; it is not on the other way around.
Posted by: Jocy | April 05, 2010 at 02:28 AM