British businesswoman faces SIX YEARS in Arab jail

They shouldve known better.
Dubai literally opened itself to the world with people coming from all over but whats needed to be understood is that the indigenous population is socially conservative,to "protect local values" the government put strict laws so as not to turn the city into the Amsterdam of the Arabian peninsula.Before visiting last year I looked up a few online guides,all made it clear that public indecency is strictly intolerated.What would be counted as a mis-demeanor in Western countries is a punishable crime in others.Does that make those other countries backward? No,that just means they put different emphasis on certain societal phenomena.
The Emiratis make it clear:you can come and make your tax-free dirhams as you please,but you have to respect the local law.
All that said IMO the sentence is harsh.

 

Sounds like your wife would get along just fine with mine then.

 

I wish my wife would act like that. Instead I get treated like every chick I walk by wants to get boned by me? Someone certainly has a high opinion of herself.

 

Seems like she has a high opinion of you, more likely.

 

I'm thinking more along the lines of her ability to pull the hot action she thinks she's pulling with me. And I've told her many times that most women aren't hose-hounds looking for just any high, hard ones.

She's really got nothing to worry about. If they're better looking than my wife, they're probably dumber than her...in which case I won't stand to be around them. If they're smarter than her, well then, they wouldn't really want to be with me, anyway.

 

So you bribed them in other words?

 

... and what would they be? Many ME countries are among the most corrupt on the face of the planet. Are those the 'local values' you're referring to?

http://www.transparency.org/content/download/24101/360189

Maybe they didn't give the police a big enough 'bung'.

 

Agree.

Agree (I think most of us agree).

One hand hacked down.

But probably only the woman...

 

Corrupt is right,I dont think anyone can argue with you there,but the local values I was referring to are those connected to Islamic tradition,especially among inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula(Persian Gulf countries) who traditionally implement Islamic law in a more orthodox fashion.

I think that a punishment for something like that in Saudi Arabia would involve lengthy jail time and "lashes".I never came across a case close to anything like that reading Saudi newspapers though

 

LOL this incident has trigged a nation-wide crack-down in Dubai. There goes my vacation plans, thanks to this ho.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Westerners were getting too racy on the beaches of this Persian Gulf tourist haven, and a police crackdown on topless sunbathing, nudity and other indecent behavior has resulted in 79 arrests in recent days.

Undercover officers are strolling the sand while others stand guard in new watchtowers to enforce the social mores of this Muslim city-state, which is a booming business center that is attracting growing hordes of foreign tourists.

Authorities said they began the decency campaign after police detained a British man and a woman who were allegedly having sex on one of Dubai's sprawling beaches earlier this month.

Over the past two weeks, police have detained a total of 79 people whose behavior was "disturbing families enjoying the beach," Zuhair Haroun, a spokesman for Dubai's Criminal Investigation Department, said Monday.

First-time offenders may be issued a warning, but if caught twice, tourists could be referred to the public prosecutor for possible criminal charges, authorities said.

Thousands of European and Asian expatriates live and work in Dubai, where native Emiratis make up only about 20 percent of the estimated 1.2 million residents. Shopping malls and fast food restaurants have replaced traditional Arab houses, and English has overtaken Arabic as the emirate's lingua franca.

Many Emiratis and Arabs visiting from other Persian Gulf countries increasingly feel Dubai's ambition to become a cosmopolitan metropolis and tourist destination is overrunning their own traditions and contradict what they feel is culturally acceptable.

Unlike elsewhere in the conservative Persian Gulf, tourists in Dubai are often seen wearing skimpy bikinis on public beaches and walk the city's streets in shorts. Alcohol is freely available in hotel bars and restaurants in this regional businesses and entertainment hub.

While pursuing the police crackdown, Dubai has embarked on a public awareness campaign to remind its Western visitors and foreign residents that the city may have flashy hotels and glitzy skyscrapers but it also is a Muslim country with traditionally conservative values.

The city is installing signs warning tourists in Arabic, English and several other languages not to sunbathe topless or change clothes in public, said Abdullah Mohammed Rafia, an official with the Dubai Municipality whose office is overseeing the public awareness campaign.

Authorities are "taking action in response to numerous complaints" filed by people who visit the city's beaches, Rafia said. Complaints have ranged from families "offended by displays of nudity" to women sunbathers who say groups of men stare at them while at the beach.

The police campaign also will target people who harass beachgoers with acts "deemed offensive, immoral or disrespectful," including loitering and voyeurism, said Dubai's acting police chief, Maj. Gen. Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina.

Some tourists who were enjoying Dubai's simmering sun Monday said the new campaign left them confused about what is considered appropriate in Dubai.

"I understand that I have to respect the rules of the country," said John MacLean, a British tourist on holiday with his girlfriend. But, he added, "I am not sure if I can kiss her or touch her in public."

 

What - topless sunbathing, or having sex with a man on a beach?

 

So you want to attract English tourists but at the same time you expect them to behave themselves?

Yeah. Tell me how that works out for ya, Dubai.

Sincerely,

Continental Europe

 

Well, the plain truth is that nobody in their right mind would ever go to a shit-hole like Dubai anyway. IMO, if people DO go there and something like this happens to them, they deserve everything they get. I have absolutely no sympathy for them at all... but that doesn't make it right, of course.

 

Dear Mr. Bennett,

All of us are better off not having you here too.

Love,

Dubai

 

Cool answer, dear Gladbach fellow!

Hey, I experienced 90,000 English (football) tourists in 2006 ... and can tell you that almost all of them behaved pretty well!

You'll find idiots everywhere.

Nice greets from Continental Europe.

 

That's a date then!

 

and none would want you there with that attitude and closed-mindedness

 

I've travelled to Muslims countries and encountered many nice people. I've also encountered some hypocritical self-righteous bastards.

 

Well if you will restrict yourself to hanging out with fellow shoe-shiners, then that's going to happen.

FWIW, 10% of Brussel's population comes from a non-white ethnic background.

 

So all ~40,000 Westerners who live there and the nearly 3 million tourists are all nuts?

It's a weird place, but it's far from a shithole.

 

Matongé is actually one of the few neighbourhoods in Brussels I like. Don't really care for most of the rest of the place, and that includes the European neighbourhood.