Pollyana

A BRISBANE woman imprisoned for adultery in the United Arab Emirates can sue the commonwealth for not telling her a rape claim could land her in jail.

Alicia Gali, 29, spent eight months in a UAE prison for adultery and drinking without a permit before being pardoned in March 2009. Ms Gali says she was drugged and raped by three or four male employees at the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort, Fujairah, where she worked as a salon manager.
She has already been given leave to pursue action against the resort.

Her legal team Maurice Blackburn filed a claim in the Brisbane Supreme Court to seek leave to sue the Australian government for an oversight by a consular official, which was granted today.

Ms Gali alleges she was not told she could be charged with adultery if she made a rape complaint against married men.



================================================== =====

Is it right that she should be allowed to sue the Australian Govt for not telling her about the laws of the country she was living and working in? While I feel sorry for her surely people working in places like that know the laws are a little "unusual" by Aussie/Western standards?
What do those of you that have lived in the Middle East feel about it?

lonndongeek

If you don't know what the rules are in a strange country you either find out or you don't go. I feel sorry for the girl, but surely she couldn't have been so naive to think that anybody in authority in the UAE can spell "womens' rights" let alone practice them.

If you get into the cr@p (particularly in the ME), you find a local lawyer and seek advice, the last people I'd be seeking advice from (other than a list of lawyers) would be a government's foreign affairs department.

Cheers

LG

Pollyana

That's the way I see it! I don't know all the ins and outs of the law here but if I was moving somewhere like the UAE I'd make sure I found out a lot more than I've bothered with for Aus. There's enough media articles about how draconian they can be, how on earth could she be so naive!
And while the govt may be able to murmur sweet nothings and repatriate you eventually, I'd rather be talking to someone local, far more likely to have the influence that can make all the difference in a place like that. And to sue them now cos SHE didn't know the law? I just can't see the logic in that one.

Dreamy

This was from a related article, linked on the page you gave:

Victims Anger over Rape Advice

I agree that she should have been more familiar with local laws.. but I guess I'd be fairly peeved if I'd sought advice from the Consulate and they failed to tell me that the course of action I was about to pursue would result in criminal charges against me.

tartankoala

No not at all. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

Kim67

The problem with the UAE, Dubai in particular, is that when you are moving there, you are told by others that live there and by the people "selling" Dubai, that it's a very liberal country where you can drink what you want as long as you have a licence, eat what you want, dress how you want etc, etc. It's not until you actually get there and start living there that you find out it's not necessarily the case and that the laws of the UAE are not even understood by the people who make or administer the laws. So what one person may go to jail for, another may get away with.

cresta57

When you read the full story it appears that after being gang raped she sought consular advice. It is the fact that allegedly the consulate let down one of its citizens that is in question.
Reading the mandate for the Australian Embassy it does clearly state that:

What we CANNOT DO to help Australians overseas:

• give legal advice, investigate crimes overseas or intervene in court proceedings

• get Australians out of prison or obtain special treatment for Australians in prison


At very least the consulate should have given her the name of a local lawyer & informed her family [if requested to do so] as far as I'm concerned that would be where the consulates role would have ended.

NedKelly

If you go to a country that runs under Sharia law you would think you might want to understand a little about it before going to live there.

Broad Shoulders

As I understand it she sought advice from the Australian Consulate before reporting the incident. They neglected to tell her of the possible outcome which I think is a reasonable request given that the Australian govt readily put out other travel warnings and security warnings to its people overseas.

I don't think think she is being unreasonable in her legal pursuit


...and this is key to the whole case IMO

"Alicia was merely told that she should reconsider her need to be in the country at that time, but the embassy was fully aware that Alicia's employer was illegally holding her passport. They didn't assist her to have the passport returned. They didn't advise her to seek local legal representation."

NedKelly

If asylum seekers can sue the government for millions of dollars and win then I suppose it is only right for it's own citizens to do the same. It's only taxpayers money after all.



http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226069733174

eddie007

Consulate doesnt give legal advice... End of...

However was warned she risked life imprisonment...if there were drugs in her system.. She's lucky.. To have gotten out at all...

After an easy buck imho

gobbyjock

She could just be after a quick buck - on the other hand she could be feeling let down and abandoned by everyone. If I`d had 8 months to stew in jail because I`d been raped, knowing that the blokes who did will more than likely walk away scot free I`d be ready to hit out where I could too.

Broad Shoulders

... So they gave her advice on this but failed to highlight that she could be imprisoned for Adultery.

They either give advice or they don't. By doing the first they have implicated themselves in the whole ordeal and therefore have a case to answer in my opinion. They should have refused to offer any advice whatsoever, however they didn't and as such they now must answer to the law.

The fact is, their terms may state that they do not give legal advice or help citizens get out of jail etc, however I'm sure history will show plenty of examples of them doing exactly that.

Paul B

That'd be kind of ironic: get drugged and raped, then go to the cops about it and get busted for having drugs in her blood, and spend life in some turd world shytehole jail for it.

And just to add insult to injury, she'd probably be knocked up as well.

eddie007

Just makes me wonder why she ignored the advice that she could face life imprisonment if she Had been DRUGGED and raped.... And reported it anyway..

its bloody shocking the way the woman has been treated BY THE COUNTRY ITSELF... Its so arse about face and makes no sense whatsoever ... But SURELY if you travel to another country you make YOURSELF aware of local laws, local customs... Especially if you plan to live and work there... there have been plenty of high profile stories....

Maybe the australian Govt should simply be offering advice for women NOT to travel to or go and work in these countries... Its not worth the risk to their basic human rights