A Norwegian woman has spoken out
about the 16-month prison sentence she
received in Dubai after reporting a rape
incident to police.
Interior designer Marte Deborah Dalelv was on a
business trip in Dubai when she says she was
raped.
The 24-year-old reported the March attack to the
police but found herself charged with having
extramarital sex, drinking alcohol, and perjury.
Convicted earlier this week, she says she is
appealing against the verdict.
The appeal hearing is scheduled for early
September.
Describing the sentence as "very harsh", she told
the AFP news agency: "I am very nervous and
tense. But I hope for the best and I take one day
at a time. I just have to get through this."
The case has angered rights groups and the
authorities in Norway.
'Wanted'
Ms Dalelv says she had been on a night out with
colleagues on 6 March when the rape took place.
She reported it to the police, who proceeded to
confiscate her passport and seize her money.
She was charged four days later on three
counts, including having sex outside marriage.
Dubai's cosmopolitan atmosphere belie deeply
conservative roots
Her alleged attacker, she said, received a 13-
month sentence for extra-marital sex and alcohol
consumption.
The Norwegian government had secured Ms
Dalelv's conditional release so, since being
charged, she has been living under the
protection of the Norwegian Seamans' Centre in
Dubai.
But she told Norway's NRK News that following
her sentencing on Tuesday she was now
officially wanted by the Dubai authorities.
"I should have been imprisoned since Tuesday,"
she said. "But I have been told they are not
searching for me."
The sentence has been condemned by Norway's
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide who is quoted
as saying that it "flies in the face of our notion of
justice" and was "highly problematic from a
human rights perspective".
The Norwegian authorities are reportedly trying
to contact the authorities in Dubai about the
situation.
The London-based Emirates Centre for Human
Rights called on the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
to which Dubai belongs, to quash Ms Dalelv's
conviction.
It said the UAE's claims that it is attempting to
end discrimination against women was
undermined by a legal system that "prohibits the
achievement of justice for cases of sexual
violence against women".
According to the Emirates Centre for Human
Rights, UAE law states a rape conviction can only
be secured after a confession or as the result of
testimony from four adult male witnesses to the
crime.
Tensions
Dubai has undergone a rapid transformation in
recent years, emerging as a five-star trade and
tourism destination with its tax-free salaries and
year-round sunshine.
It is now one of the world's most cosmopolitan
cities with foreign workers and visitors greatly
outnumbering the local population.
But it remains a deeply conservative region, and
its strict laws have caught out foreigners in the
past. Public displays of affection and
drunkenness are frowned upon.
A British couple, Ayman Najafi and Charlotte
Adams, were jailed for a month in 2010 after
they shared what Mr Najafi described as an
"innocuous peck on the cheek" in a restaurant. A
witness said they had kissed on the mouth.
Another British couple, Vince Acors and Michelle
Palmer, were jailed for three months in 2008 for
having sex on a public beach - an allegation they
denied. Http://tinyurl.com/K44s63e