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

I thought Dubai was the playground of the Middle East. This sounds like something I would like to do on my playground.

 

They might have been worried about ol' Ayman setting a bad example. Something tells me a Heathclifford Wickchesterton or Llewellyn Marpelthwaite would have been allowed to canoodle his date all he wanted.

 

Such tolerant societies....



DD

 

Bizarre story btw..

One the one hand, they were clearly violating the law. But it's something people generally turn a blind eye to. According to them, it was a peck on the cheek. They were both drunk.


On the other hand, the person who reported this is a woman, citing that they broke the law, disrespected tradition and did so in front of her children. According to the woman, it was intimate kissing and "touching" (her words).

Most importantly, the woman claimed this happened at 2am. WTH is the woman doing with her children at a beachfront restaurant at 2am? It's not against the law obviously, but clearly violates her own culture and traditions. Nevermind that children shouldn't be awake at that time anyways lol.

It's all moot though because kissing in public is illegal anyways, which is why I don't think they have a chance in an appeal or anything. Sad to see so many expatriates coming here and actually speaking up only after they get caught. If they showed any sort of committment and made a voice for themselves, they could actually have a chance at making a difference. It really creates even more segregation than there already is and does not draw any pity from the people who simultaneously obey the laws and attempt to change them. It's also sad to see that the already-existing segregation meant that the woman was uncomfortable in just approaching the couple and saying "could you please tone it down, I have my children with me."

I realy don't like the segregation.

 

I've seen similar things at the Madinat. There have definitely been people walking around drunk in the mall afterwards. I'm guessing it was excessive groping and tonguing that caused the woman to call the cops.

A shame for the guy too, because if a girl is on a vacation she's a sure thing. No work required.

 

I agree this is a little bit ridiculous to arrest people for kissing but they were stupid to do it in the first place knowing where they were. They could have saved it for the room later. When in Rome do as the Romans do.....

 

Thing is, Dubai lulls you into a fall sense of security sometimes as a very common practice, which is illegal, goes unnoticed for yeeeeeears and then suddenly someone gets deported over it.

The consistency of application of this law is a problem IMO, and there are various reasons (not excuses) for that.

This is why I always advise people in Dubai - know the law, follow it, and be proactive rather than reactive. Getting jailed for a month then deported can really mess things up for you, especially if you have dependants.