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BLOOMBERG NEWS
Dubai to Put on Trial U.K. Woman Who Reported Rape
2010-01-28 17:21:39.351 GMT
By Henry Meyer
Jan. 28, 2010 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai will prosecute for illegal
alcohol consumption a U.K. woman who reported that she was raped
on New Year's Eve while on holiday in a luxury hotel.
Dubai Attorney General Essam al-Humaidan said today that
prosecutors won't press charges of unlawful extramarital sex
between the woman and her husband, the official WAM news service
reported. The alleged rape by an Indian hotel employee "didn't
happen," al-Humaidan said. The husband was also charged with
drinking alcohol.
The woman, a 23-year-old of Pakistani descent, told police
she was raped by a hotel worker after passing out in the
restroom of the Address Hotel in the upscale Dubai Marina
district, according to United Arab Emirates media reports.
Police detained the woman and her partner, later freeing them on
bail while they investigated charges that the couple had sex out
of marriage and consumed alcohol, the reports said.
Under the U.A.E.'s Islamic laws, Muslims are not allowed to
drink alcohol and sexual relations between unmarried men and
women are against the law.
The lawsuit may bring more negative publicity for Dubai,
which was forced last year to turn to wealthier neighbor Abu
Dhabi for a bailout as its debt-fuelled growth stalled amid the
global crisis. House prices have plunged 50 percent from their
peak in 2008, and the economy is forecast to shrink for a second
year in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund.
"Dubai's reputation has been battered over the last 14
months, this case is bound to damage its reputation more," said
Jim Krane, author of "City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of
Capitalism."
'Think Twice'
Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights group, on Jan.
25 accused the U.A.E. of not taking the U.K. woman's rape
complaint seriously.
Her treatment "will make young women in the U.A.E.,
citizens and tourists alike, think twice about seeking justice
and reporting sexual assaults for fear of being charged
themselves," said Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North
Africa researcher on women's rights, Nadya Khalife.
Alcohol offenses can be punished with months in jail
sentences, though Dubai is more likely to deport the British
couple than make them serve a prison sentence, Krane said.
The emirate, the second-largest in the seven-member
federation, amassed at least $80 billion of debt for mega-
projects such as the world's first seven-star hotel, the Burj al
Arab, and the world’s largest tower, the Burj Khalifa. Lucrative
golf and tennis events have drawn visitors to its hotels and
beaches.
More Traditional
The more traditional neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi,
which is the capital of the U.A.E., provided Dubai a $20 billion
lifeline last year.
Dubai has been seeking to shed its image of a free-and-easy
destination for foreigners, posting signs in shopping centers
requiring all women to dress modestly and fining some who fail
to comply.
In 2008, in a case that grabbed media attention, two
Britons were found guilty of having sex on a beach in Dubai
after meeting at an all-you-can-drink champagne brunch. They
were deported four months after the incident with their prison
sentences suspended.
"There appears to be a tightening of social freedoms that
many people in Dubai thought had got out of hand," said Krane.
"Abu Dhabi's influence may also be apparent here."
--Editors: Ben Holland, Mark Bentley.
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