Never let it be said that a country’s standard of living defines its level of civilization.
In 2008 Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors were arrested and convicted for “having sex on the beach” in Dubai. They were sentenced to three months in jail, but the sentence was suspended so they could be quickly deported.
Last week Charlotte Adams and Ayman Najafi exchanged a passionate kiss in a restaurant in Dubai. They were arrested and convicted. The sentence was a month in jail, and the case is currently on appeal. (The pair were also convicted of being in a public place after consuming alcohol, which is against the law in Dubai. Alcohol consumption itself is not–go figure.)
Yesterday two ethnic Indians (identities unreleased) who work for Emirate Airlines were arrested and convicted for “coercion to commit sin”. They were…
(wait for it)
…sending sexy text messages to each other on their cell phones.
All players were acting consensually. No PDAs were in evidence.
This is yet one more reason why I will never visit such places. Quite aside from a lack of civility (“break it up, folks, and move along”), the very idea of jailing and fining people based on a religious bias that says that sex is “wrong” and “sinful” ought to rank such societies to be considered on the same level with Stone Age cave dwellers.
Just think what the US would be like under our own home-grown Christofascists. *shudder* We certainly owe many thank yous to Jefferson, Madison, and the team.
I’d love to know how the authorities knew about the messages. Methinks one of the convictees showed them to someone else (or someone snuck a look).