Boomhauer

I don'r recall seeing this mentioned here so posting it.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/q...-1226028892697


Read this bit about the Australian embassy telling her and her family to keep quiet. I don't know if they advised that feeling it would help her to be freed or if they were concerned with their careers or OZ-UAE relations.

al dente

She's suing the hotel chain for not looking after her properly and encouraging drinking (without) licences on hotel grounds for staff and so creating an environment which was unsafe. Interesting premise and not one i entirely disagree with. Hotels and the Tourist industry do seem to work here by creating the illusion of a non Shariah utopia but we are were we are..

It is frankly appalling that she was jailed.

lionheart

I hope the media pursue this story as it's bloody shocking. Not only the jail sentence but the failure of the Aussie Embassy to help her. At least the British Embassy is not the only one. Presumably the alleged rapists got off with a warning only.

al dente

It's unclear if they are still in jail (they are presumed to be but there was no concrete proof that they are). FTR they are not from the UAE.

lionheart

Here we go...some choice comments from Daily Mail readers follow...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-marriage.html

Jim Smith

One of the local radio stations said the local police chief said he had to apply local law and the best solution was to put everyone involved in jail!!!!!!!!!
(Didn't seem interested if anyone was innocent or had merely reported the fact to the police)

Probem solved!!!!!!!!!

Norm_uk

Yet another sad example of the immature judiciary,ridiculous Sharia, and lack of support employers give in the UAE.

They have a long way to go - meanwhile thousands of innocents and victims are put through humiliation and suffering. What shocked me was how the Aussie embassy told her to keep quiet

N.

OriginalSunshine

interesting, as we've stayed in this hotel once and the employees are using the hotel's email list to publicise the situation and advise customers to stay away from the hotel.

Charismatic

It is a bit weird TBH, where they afraid she would have her sentence extended or embarrassed about their own inadequacy in dealing with the situation .

What is the law like regarding acts that took place in foreign countries, could these men be tried when they return to civilisation?

Norm_uk

That's my favourite way of showing my disgust - avoid doing business with companies who are medieval where possible.

In fact that's got me thinking - perhaps a list of good and bad employers can be drawn up so we can all choose where to give our custom to.

N.

weescot

I received a lot of the alerts for this story and I have previously stayed at this hotel, so have also recieved email alerts from "a hotel associate". It never ceases to amaze me how much stories printed in the press are taken at face value, and in this case no one is actually wondering what all sides of the story are.

In no way I am defending this woman's incarceration and the application of local law, but in reading the reports, it is obvious that there is a lot of mud slinging now that she is safely back home rebuilding her life and suing for damages. What is so obvious about this story, as a "story", reported is:

1. The Austrailain Authorites do not appear to either have been approached to comment on the accusations she has made re embassy assistance/keeping quiet, or the media have chosen not to print it.
2. The hotel and/or starwood is unable to comment as this incident is now the subject of civil legal proceedings.
3. the indcident happened 3 years ago. She was imprisioned for 8 months. She has had over 2 years to blab to the press - why now?

Purely from a reporting perpsective, points 1 and 2 lead me to question the objectivity of the reporting. Point 2 and 3 makes me quetion the motivation behind publicising this story now, given it is the subject of legal proceedings. Effectively one side is gagged to the other sides advantage.

That said, I do feel very sorry for this girl and wish her well in rebuilding her future. It doesn't work out for everyine in the ME. It is indeed a pity she had limted awareness of the culture and laws of Emirate she was going to live and work in.

Mogs

Another ridiculous example of the laws in this country.....

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/cr...ajman-1.787559