UAE: EXPAT MEN DEATH SENTENCED TO 15 YRS JAIL, DEPORTATION

The Criminal Court of Appeals overturned the verdict of a lower court that sentenced an expatriate to death for abducting and raping a woman, and amended the sentence to 15 years imprisonment with hard labor and immediate execution and deportation after completion of term. The civil aspect of the case was referred to a court of competent jurisdiction.
The plaintiff accused the defendant of having sex with her by force in Sulaibiya desert area, while he was supposed to drop her home. The defense counsel Basma Al-Sedr argued that the incident did not involve any act of abduction, and faulted the documented evidence. She observed that the plaintiff was not consistent in her submissions, besides not doing enough to resist the sex advances-given that she could have sought help from passers-by. The lawyer objected to allegations that the plaintiff became pregnant as a result of the incident, because she was not a virgin and there was no concrete evidence to prove her claim in that regard.