The British woman who was sentenced to one month in jail for kissing a man in public has hit out at the Dubai justice system and accused it of “hypocrisy” as she returns home after serving her time.
Essex girl, Charlotte Adams was sentenced to the term after she was accused of kissing Ayman Najifi, a fellow Brit, whilst the pair were enjoying a meal with friends in a restaurant. Despite conflicting reports from the accuser, and their own insistence that the ‘kiss’ was just a friendly peck intended as a greeting, the courts still saw it as an infringement and sentenced both to jail time.
Mr Najifi, a British citizen who has been working in Dubai for over a year, is thought to be appealing his sentence, but Miss Adams chose to take her sentence and get it over and done with. Upon her release on Friday Miss Adams lamented: “Everyone gets so drunk they forget where they are, particularly the Westerners, which is when their behaviour can become dangerous legally. The laws need to evolve to match the culture here. At the moment, it's all just hypocrisy.”
She continues to plead her innocence and described the incident in question to the Mail on Sunday: “I would have spoken to Ayman and touched his arm. I was probably flirting with him a bit, tossing my hair and being a bit girly. But we weren't drunk and I would never have snogged someone in the middle of a crowded restaurant, especially in Dubai and especially as Ayman's friends were there”.
The British Embassy in Dubai recognises the danger foreigners can encounter when dropped into the culture-clash landscape of Dubai. Recently they took steps to lessen the frequency of incidents by publishing a stern warning page on their website, giving a list of do’s and don’ts in dubai, and capping it off with the disclaimer “If you want to face possible arrest and imprisonment, ignore the advice”.