Dubai:
Dubai's appeals court has upheld the one-month sentence to a British couple accused of kissing in public, weeks after two Indians were sentenced to jail for exchanging lewd text messages in Dubai.
The pair, 24-old-year marketing executive Ayman Najafi and 25-year-old tourist Charlotte Adams, were convicted in January and sentenced to one month in jail followed by deportation, and fined US $272 for consuming alcohol.
The pair, who has so far remained free on bail, can mount a final legal challenge with a higher cassation court, the defendants' lawyer Khalfan Al-Hosani said. "There isn't much of a chance but it's worth a try," he told reporters. The lawyer said his clients haven't yet decided whether to appeal.
The duo were arrested after an Emirati woman with her family filed a complaint on November 28 last year claiming that the two had been kissing and touching each other in a sexual manner in front of her children at a diner in Jumeirah Beach Residence.
Both the accused admitted drinking alcohol but denied committing a sexual act, claiming they had kissed each other on the cheek as a greeting.
Khalfan told the judges that the 38-year-old Emirati woman currently the only adult witness in the case had presented two different testimonies to police and public prosecutors.
In 2008, two Britons accused of having sex on the beach got three months in jail, though their sentences were later suspended.
Last month, two Indian cabin crew of UAE's Emirates Airline were sentenced to three-month in jail in connection with a case of exchanging "lewd" text messages.
A 42-year-old flight attendant and a 47-year-old cabin services supervisor -- both unidentified -- of Emirates Airline were convicted of "coercion to commit sin" after sending each other sexually themed SMS messages, it said.