Britons sentenced to a month in prison for kissing in Dubai restaurant

[bemildred]

Source: Telegraph.UK

Ayman Najafi, 24, a marketing consultant who lives in Dubai, and Charlotte Adams, 25, an estate agent from North London, were said to have been touching each other and kissing passionately as they dined with friends in a beachfront restaurant.

They were arrested and sentenced to a month in prison after which they were told they would be deported.

But the pair told a hearing at the Dubai Appeal Court yesterday that they were the victims of a "huge misunderstanding" and had simply exchanged a friendly greeting.

"We kissed each other on the cheek as a greeting, nothing more,” Mr Najafi told Judge Aysar Fouad. Miss Adams pointed at her cheek to show where contact had taken place.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/7443079/Britons-sentenced-to-a-month-in-prison-for-kissing-in-Dubai-restaurant.html

[Blandocyte]

1. Geez.

And I sarcastically suggest that we invade and liberate this country. Freedom for the people who want to kiss without government sanction! Shock and awe, I say!

[donco6]

2. And Dubai was being touted as this "vacation mecca".

No pun intended about the "mecca" thing.

But anyway - why would anyone go there? It sounds absolutely hideous.

[MetaTrope]

3. Well, Dubai's president preferred weekends hunting in Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden

But I guess that's a tough one to sell these days.

[donco6]

5. Gawd. Hunting WHAT, one wonders. n/t

[No Elephants]

7. Isn't it sacreligious to call Dubai a vacation mecca? People are under death sentences for cartoons

for crap's sake--and they're advertising vacation meccas?

[marasinghe]

17. spent 5 years working in dubai, in the early 80's. and, believe me, the sacrilege ...

... is in the use of the word "vacation" - not "mecca" - in the context of dubai.

despite what, i believe are (not having read it - i'm going on hearsay) strict enjoinders in the koran to treat fellow muslims in a fraternal spirit, they had the poor, mostly muslim bangladeshis - hired for the tough work that others balked at - camped out in the desert in tin can shacks, without most of the facilities that even we non-muslims were provided in middle-class neighborhoods.

and the pathans (pashtuns) from the north west frontier of pakistan, brought in for the heavy lifting - such as construction - were not being treated any better, at that point in time.

strangely - given this particular news item - the brits were still basking in the last vestiges of their neo-colonial glory & being treated like the pissant minor deities they thought themselves to be. jumeirah by the beach was their little butlin's holiday camp away from blighty.

i guess all those years & british pounds of scamming the emiratis finally paid off; and they're joining the rest of us hoi polloi behind the line in the sand.

[harmonicon]

14. work.

I have a relative who took a job there this year after being laid off time and again by the US company he'd worked for for a long time. The US has become a place where people have to leave in order to make a better life for themselves.

[sendero]

4. Hard to feel sorry..

... for anyone going there, unless they were forced to on business. Everyone knows what kind of assholes run this joke of a country, why encourage them?

[AlbertCat]

10. Hard to feel sorry..... for anyone going there

B-b-but they have man made islands in the shape of a map of the world.... and a palm tree!

I saw some thing on TV about some Irish guys who bought the Ireland-shaped fake island and were going to get people from Ireland to vacation there.... make it a little Ireland in the Middle East.

1st.... if you're in Ireland, why vacation in a fake Ireland?
2nd... I'll bet the Catholics and the Protestants would love to get away from it all in a Muslim country where you spend time in prison for kissing in a restaurant.


Great business plan lads!

[smirkymonkey]

21. And get fined for consuming alcohol....

Sound REALLY fun!

[closeupready]

23. "Why vacation in a fake Ireland?" For one, it'd be Ireland - with sunshine, lol.

But aside from that, I quite agree with you. Too much money with too few investments found its way to Dubai. Now it's crashing down. Who could have predicted...?

[No Elephants]

6. When you have oil, your economy doesn't need tourism, I guess.

[WriteDown]

11. Less than 6% of Dubai's revenue is from oil. nt

[tomm2thumbs]

8. ahhh, 'Dubai is for Lovers' isn't going to make the top ten slogans this year again

and I was rooting for it

[earcandle]

9. "you can not touch your body"

Get Out

hey, move to America! Enjoy your love!

Haystack

[Jennicut]

12. Their laws against drinking are also strange.

"They were also fined 1000 dirham (180 pounds) for being in a public place after consuming alcohol – an offence in Dubai, though drinking alcohol itself is not."

[customerserviceguy]

13. I just had someone here with the last few weeks

telling me that Dubai was not like all those other nations that use Islamic law to control social behavior.

[DonCoquixote]

15. I would love to weep, BUT

Many people were embracing Dubai as a txa haven, and a new "playground of the super rich." They built the islands, the world's tallest building, and all sorts of things that would make Las Vegas cringe. It was supposed to be the home of the new world order, Las Vegas plus New York Plus Paris! Of course, these brits learned a lesson that we in America are learning, that if your freedoms are limited, it does not matter how much gilded crap you have.

[sam sarrha]

16. Sharia law is very misunderstood in the west.. here is a link that will help us out, >>link>

this is the most astonishing Autobiography i have ever read.. Nonie Darwish lived 30 years under Sharia law
http://www.amazon.com/Cruel-Usual-Punishment-Terrifying-Implications/dp/1595551611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268526724&sr=1-1

also some interesting Youtube videos.. there is a Fatwa issued for her head in a platter for giving up their secrets, also Wafa Sultan, a Syrian MD has a death sentence for quiting Islam..Fatwas do not respect international boarders..

a search list for Nonie Darwish
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nonie+darwish&search_type=&aq=0&oq=nonie+darwis

wafa sultan on womens rights list
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wafa%20sultan%20women%27s%20rights&search=Search&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&spell=1

these brave women have risked their lives to warn the west, particularly America.. it is very evident they love america. my hero's

[Quantess]

18. Saudi Arabians sound like a bunch of killjoys.

Total misanthropes.

[fujiyama]

20. Dubai isn't part of SA

Compared to SA, the UAE, which includes Dubai is freaking Amsterdam.

[rockymountaindem]

19. Also they evidently imprisoned a man for a speck of marijuana on his shoe

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23436226-briton-jailed-for-four-years-in-dubai-after-customs-find-cannabis-weighing-less-than-a-grain-of-sugar-under-his-shoe.do

Sounds like a great place to spend your time and money :sarcasm:

[Ter]

25. Don't break their laws and you'll be fine

Seriously, with ultra-strict drug laws, what idiot would bring pot there on vacation? Just smoke when you get home.

[rockymountaindem]

27. You smoke weed of the sole of your shoe?

I've never partaken but from my understanding that's not how it's done. That weed could have come from anywhere and as it is not big enough to be seen by a naked eye, I hardly think you can say this guy was trying to smuggle drugs into Dubai or that he was doing them while he was there.

[LeftHander]

22. The new mega-tower has a floor just for stonings....nt

[Ter]

24. French kissing in a public restauant?

Jail is extreme, but I hate idiots who do that. Get a room.

[melm00se]

26. it's their country

with their own sovereign laws.

If you don't get into trouble, then (NEWSFLASH) don't break 'em.