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Lesbian couple jailed for kissing on beach in Dubai
Last updated at 18:35pm on 02.09.08
The Dubai Court of Appeal has found a lesbian couple guilty of kissing on a public beach.
The Appeal Court upheld the one-month jail sentence for the women, a 30-year-old Lebanese national and a 36-year-old Bulgarian who both pleaded not guilty.
The Dubai Public Prosecution charged the women with kissing, groping each other and indecent acts in public - the first case of its kind in the country.
Dubai Courts: The women were charged with kissing, groping each other and indecent acts in public - the first case of its kind in the country
They will be deported after serving their jail terms.
The couple were initially found guilty in April, three months before a similar incident between a pair of British tourists.
In July Vince Acors, 34, and Michelle Palmer, 36, were arrested for having sex on a beach at the Burj Al Arab Hotel.
They are both due to appear before Dubai’s Court of First Instance this week.
But the one month jail term handed down to the lesbian couple may give Mr Acors and Miss Palmers some hope given homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.
Police reports state that the two women were seen being intimate with each other at Al Mamzar public beach.
Witnesses called police saying they saw everything.
'The Lebanese woman was lying on top of the Bulgarian and the two were cuddling and kissing each other in front of us,' a witness said in the official records.
'I called the police because it was indecent especially as there were some families around.'
Facing jail: Vince Acors and fellow Briton Michelle Palmer allegedly had sex on a beach in Dubai
Senior prosecutor Faisal Abdelmalek Ahli in the 'sex on beach' Britons case said Mr Acors and Miss Palmer were likely to be jailed for between six months and year if found guilty, as well as being fined and deported.
Prosecutors said witnesses saw the couple cuddling for about 10 minutes on Jumeirah Beach before a police officer arrived at about 1am.
They had met earlier at a champagne brunch at the Le Meridien Hotel, close to Dubai Airport.
One of the witnesses, a 21-year-old Palestinian man, said: ‘I was with my friends on the beach when I saw the couple get out of a taxi and start kissing each other.
‘The man lay on his back and she was on top of him. She took off her shirt and they started to have sex.’
Reader views (8)
It is not about thier pride in the skyscraper etc... I have been there many a time and it is about respect for the people who are 99% Muslim in that country. If you know they are conservatives, then act accordingly! When i am there, i dress properly and act properly... yes Dubai is westernised but they are still an islamic country! How dare anyone go to THIER country to disrespect them!!!!
- Ltf, South Africa
To the other comments:
the U.K does not "let rogues and misfits do as they will" this is a myth perpetrated by our crime obsessed media, who think we want to read about crime, they gather a load of stories about the negative aspects of life and bombard us with it...making us forget that crime (yes in the uk) is the lowest of most countries, you are safe.
- Daveb, london
How surprising that a state whose rulers pride themselves on their enormous phallic architectural wonders (skyscrapers, islands in the shape of palm trees etc) is opposed to these innocent lesbotic fumblings.
- Keith, King's Cross
When in Rome etc etc
- Lb, London
If Dubai wants to destroy its tourism industry, this is best way to achieve that.
- Martin, London
Why don't we have the anti-Chinese, human rights loonies complaining about this abusive behaviour of a foreign country?
- Albert Swift, Aberdeen, Scotland
One should not be allowed to do what one wants in other countries. It is imperative that local rules and traditions are respected and adhered to. The "anything goes" attitude in the UK invites all sorts of rogues and misfits who cannot do as they like in their own country. So basically the moral is, if you want to " do wht you want" stay in the UK, but if you wish to travel abroad, adhere and respect the laws of the country you visit. Well done Dubai!
- Wq, Frankfurt, Germany
The only reason why this story has made the headlines here is that Britain is the only country on the planet where foreigners can flout the indigenous laws and customs with complete impunity, whilst living the high life at the expense of taxpayers.
Everywhere else the treatment meted out to these miscreants is the expected norm and doesn't attract any special attention.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster
