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Instead of posting signs with 25 DON'T's at the malls, why dont they put only one sign at the airport: NO VISIT that way nobody will get in trouble.
Go to Florida, go to the French Riviera, why bother going to this sandpit
How can a city pretend to be cosmopolitan and impose at the same time a dress code.
How come arab women protest for the right to wear a burka head to toe in our countries, but object when western women want to dress like in their countries.
Anyways, I am glad that for once the Brit woman won, the toetoheadburka had no rights to address her, she protested and had the courage to strip to her bikini, in the face of everybody, and she won.

I certainly would have taken exception to a local getting in my face. What did it have to do with her??
The Brit woman made her point by stripping to her bikini. I applaud her for standing up to this person.
I also think that it is fair to enforce decency laws but that is not up to public to enforce. If these laws are going to exist lets have people on the doors at malls turning people away who are inappropriately dressed.

Interestingly: A few days ago I saw a guy in the metro, in national dress smoking a cigarette. The "police" were trying to get him to put it out without success.

They would have probably batton charged a westerner....double standards as ever

damn I missed the strip show

lol when is it happening again?? Any brits coming to dubai please let us know well in advance and let us know where you will be staying, so we can watch the show

smoggie wrote:I certainly would have taken exception to a local getting in my face. What did it have to do with her??
The Brit woman made her point by stripping to her bikini. I applaud her for standing up to this person.
I also think that it is fair to enforce decency laws but that is not up to public to enforce. If these laws are going to exist lets have people on the doors at malls turning people away who are inappropriately dressed.

Interestingly: A few days ago I saw a guy in the metro, in national dress smoking a cigarette. The "police" were trying to get him to put it out without success.

They would have probably batton charged a westerner....double standards as ever

Best comment so far

For 1 group of people, if they dont obey rules they will be confronted

Second group will do that they want and occasionally get "offended" if asked to follow rules.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3084106/Brit-mum-Tessa-Meager-arrested-in-Dubai-strip-row.html

A SHAKEN British mum told yesterday how she was arrested in Dubai after a veiled Muslim woman accused her of STRIPPING in a shopping mall.

Tessa Meager, 28, was wearing a kaftan and white shorts as she shopped with daughter Helen, ten.
But the local woman stopped her, pointed to her clothes, began screaming "Respect!" and called security staff.

The distraught mum - on holiday with Helen - was then arrested by police in front of the bewildered girl. And she was subjected to a three-day ordeal during which she learned the woman claimed she had stripped naked in the plush Dubai Mall.

Mature law student Tessa was charged with "outraging public decency" following a police interrogation she did not understand. She was finally brought before a prosecutor on Wednesday for another hour-long grilling conducted entirely in Arabic.

But the charge was dropped when CCTV pictures from the mall exposed the Arab woman's claims as a pack of lies.

Tessa, of Morden, South London, said: "This woman took exception to me and I have no idea why. She started shouting at me. She was pointing at my clothes screaming, 'Respect!'"

"I tried to explain I had just been swimming. I showed her the top of the bikini I had on under my kaftan but this seemed to annoy her even more. She said I was disrespecting her faith."

"I don't know why I was targeted. About 95 per cent of the people in the mall were wearing less than me.
"I'm amazed she was believed by the police.
"She told them I took everything off and was standing in the mall with no clothes on."

Tessa contacted British consular staff in the super-strict emirate, but claimed they were "useless".
She said they refused her a translator and advised her just to "beg forgiveness" from police.
The Foreign Office last night denied shunning her.
A spokesman said: "We have offered consular assistance throughout."
----

I am pretty sure this arab woman had already filed a claim for damages pending the result of the court case, in which the Brit would have been found guilty.

Under local law and in Sharia Law if you make a false claim and are shown to have made a false claim the full force of the law is supposed to be focused on you instead (!!!)

Anyone think that is going to happen ? Please have 'RESPECT' for your guests

Couldn't agree with smogs and rover more. Wonder if that article is true. Could be one of the reason she was let go. Respect my @ss. If she has such a problem she shouldn't leave her house in the first place.

Wow - I was joking when I said 'if there are no pics, it didn't happen' - but there you go, there were no pics because it didn't actually happen (the stripping and taunting of locals!)

So, two women get into a fight, Mall security call police, police question both, both released. I guess it is the 'local' who has the wasta in all this - she shouldn't be able to get away with making a false report!

Cheers,
Shafique

There are lessons / a moral to be taken from this and the "K1ssing Couple" case

(1) If a lokal takes a dislike to you and choses to make a complaint to the Police, their word will be taken over yours

(2) Unless you can produce or get access to incontrovertible evidence such as video tape, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law

(3) Your embassy will be as much use as a wet tissue

(4) and finally as has been said may times on DF and other places - in Dubai you are considered Guilty until proven Guilty


Quite a marketing ploy for the "Come to Dubai on Holiday" mob

Caveat Emptor

Wow, I'm sitting here appreciating that I was never arrested for anything in Dubai.

I just want out !

We all knew women could get arrested for wearing a bikini, now we know they can be arrested even if they don't.
Anyone proud to live in Dubai ? Anyone to recommend visiting Dubai?
Please where are the voices who boasted about Dubai before so we can have exciting posts

smoggie wrote:I certainly would have taken exception to a local getting in my face. What did it have to do with her??
The Brit woman made her point by stripping to her bikini. I applaud her for standing up to this person.
I also think that it is fair to enforce decency laws but that is not up to public to enforce. If these laws are going to exist lets have people on the doors at malls turning people away who are inappropriately dressed.

I would rather have a local ask me to cover up instead of going directly to the police.
Posting guards at the entrance would prevent this from happening, but it shouldn't be necessary. In nanny state UK maybe, but I don't want to see Dubai go down that road. The guidelines are already there on the glass doors for everyone to see.
Now that the full story has come out it seems like there was simply a difference in opinion on what was considered as 'naked'.
I don't think that wearing a kaftan over a bikini is a good look at a mall. Not the kaftans I've seen anyway. Most are semi translucent.
Technially she was breaking the law, although it is good to see that the judge employed some leniency and decided that the law need not be enforced in this case.

benwj wrote:Now that the full story has come out it seems like there was simply a difference in opinion on what was considered as 'naked'.
I don't think that wearing a kaftan over a bikini is a good look at a mall. Not the kaftans I've seen anyway. Most are semi translucent.
Technially she was breaking the law, although it is good to see that the judge employed some leniency and decided that the law need not be enforced in this case.

Perhaps its a language problem ...

She was not naked - nor was she wearing a sheer kaftan

She was not breaking the law, and was subjected to an unfair and unfounded accusation by a nutter.

(Technically), it never got to a judge, it got as far as the Dubai Public Prosecution who, when shown the video tape, realised that it was, as we would call it, a lie.

Sorry, Benwj, sometimes a situation is just what it is, and all "spin" aside should be judged for what it is, yet another nail in the coffin of tourism in Dubai !

viking-warrior wrote:Perhaps its a language problem ...

She was not naked - nor was she wearing a sheer kaftan

She was not breaking the law, and was subjected to an unfair and unfounded accusation by a nutter.

(Technically), it never got to a judge, it got as far as the Dubai Public Prosecution who, when shown the video tape, realised that it was, as we would call it, a lie.

Sorry, Benwj, sometimes a situation is just what it is, and all "spin" aside should be judged for what it is, yet another nail in the coffin of tourism in Dubai !

Please tell me how you know that it wasn't a shear kaftan. I obviously don't have enough information.
I am only going on what the British lady told the police.
The fact that the she needed to point out that she was wearing a bikini underneath the kaftan indicates to me it was a sheer kaftan. Her bikini was the focus of her defence.
If you expose your shoulders (albeit through a kaftan) then yes, technically you are dressed indecently.
I think that she was lucky to be let off by the Dubai Public Prosecution. According to her it took 3 days.
What is so bad about them letting someone off without charge anyway?
The spin doctors are just peeved that the nail isn't bigger had she been charged.

Smoke in no smoking areas, break queues, park in handicapped spots, every group has members who do it. But members of only 1 or 2 groups shout or confront when their mistakes are pointed out, respect goes down the drain then.....
I was pushed from a queue with the guy saying "yallah, move". Thats all, if I said anything more, I would probably have been accused falsely of something i didnt do.
2 men catching pigeons and twisting their necks; when a guy asked them, the 2 offenders yelled at him and "got angry", how dare some mortal has the audacity to point out their mistakes.


To many people, respect is a 1 way street.

Fortunately the majority of our hosts are not like that, respect for many of them is a 2 way street.

"But the charge was dropped when CCTV pictures from the mall exposed the Arab woman's claims as a pack of lies."

Take the rose tinted spectacles of for a moment Benwj.

benwj wrote:
The fact that the she needed to point out that she was wearing a bikini underneath the kaftan indicates to me it was a sheer kaftan. Her bikini was the focus of her defence.

What is so bad about them letting someone off without charge anyway?
The spin doctors are just peeved that the nail isn't bigger had she been charged.

The fact that she (the accused) pointed out out that she had a bikini underneath her obviously invisible Kaftan - says to you that she stripped in the Mall !!!

I have not and do not need to "spin" this - the facts are the facts, and as such they speak for themself, not I am afraid for your imagination.

The tourist was not wearing appropriate attire for the mall. She did make a bad judgment call to wear beach clothing out shopping. That still doesn't absolve the the local woman from making a false claim that the tourist stripped in public.

You know the local woman could have said to the tourist that her clothing is offensive and that she should respect the culture the next time she dresses for the public. However, yelling "Respect!" pointing and making a scene and calling security, especially in front of others and the tourist's child, then making a false claim about stripping to police, is completely ridiculous.

The point is to get people to dress appropriately, not have them arrested in front of their children and abuse one's power as a local.

-- Sat Aug 07, 2010 1:38 pm --

p.s. Nice pics viking_warrior

viking-warrior wrote:The fact that she (the accused) pointed out out that she had a bikini underneath her obviously invisible Kaftan - says to you that she stripped in the Mall !!!

I have not and do not need to "spin" this - the facts are the facts, and as such they speak for themself, not I am afraid for your imagination.

I don't need to quote a tabloid newpaper word for word and call this a fact.
Its not that difficult to imagine how it went down if you read between the lines.
1. The arab lady gets upset and starts pointing and yelling at the tourist.
2. The tourist realises that what she is wearing is upsetting the arab lady. A quick apology and exit stage left could have cooled things down, but instead the tourist defends herself by indicating that she is wearing a bikini.
3. This upsets the arab lady even more, given that being able to see the bikini through the kaftan was the thing that upset her in the first instance. She then calls security who call police etc etc etc. Whilst the tourist calls the Consulate and the Daily Mail etc etc etc.

Is it really that difficult to say "yes she was dressed inappropriately and broke the law, however the local lady acted inappropriately also, and both parties were lucky that the Dubai Public Prosecution used some common sense by not pressing any charges.
Kanelli came very close, close but sorry... no banana girl.
Blackburnrovers hit the nail on the head.
Respect is a 2 way street.

The truth will out: and it seems the CCTV camera has been fair here.

Its obvious the woman was NOT inappropriately dressed, otherwise the judge would have thrown the book at her.

It is also obvious that the local woman was a fundamentalist and possibly a candidate as a suicide bomber and therefore should be ignored. The chances of her being charged with making false claim are slim to nil as she obviously has contacts.

I received an official complaint whilst putting on a dance entertainment show in a mall from a 'lokal' claiming he could see a girls underwear when she was dancing: bloody good eyesight when she was wearing a lycra bodysuit, tights...and trousers! Again, video of the show being taken for TV proved he was making it up.

He who shouts first, is innocent. Even if they are guilty.



Knight

Well we all arn't always that lucky to have video to back us up.

Dubai Knight wrote:The truth will out: and it seems the CCTV camera has been fair here.

Its obvious the woman was NOT inappropriately dressed, otherwise the judge would have thrown the book at her.

It is also obvious that the local woman was a fundamentalist and possibly a candidate as a suicide bomber and therefore should be ignored. The chances of her being charged with making false claim are slim to nil as she obviously has contacts.

I received an official complaint whilst putting on a dance entertainment show in a mall from a 'lokal' claiming he could see a girls underwear when she was dancing: bloody good eyesight when she was wearing a lycra bodysuit, tights...and trousers! Again, video of the show being taken for TV proved he was making it up.

He who shouts first, is innocent. Even if they are guilty.



Knight

Sounds like the lokal was getting his camel toes mixed up

I think DK got it - give that man a coconut !

If there had not been the video evidence then the book would have been nailed to her forehead, for stripping down, lathering on the baby oil and performing for the baying crowd ...

The spin machine aka EB24/7, the National et al do precisely as DK pointed out, Shout first, shout loud = truth.

Anything that comes after is ignored.

As for "apologising" to the offended lokal woman - yeah, in your dreams mate. Next time she steps off EK005 at Gatwick with her G-String dividing her hairy rear, I hope she trips over and we get it on You Tube - Karma has a funny way of coming round full circle.

benwj wrote:Sounds like the lokal was getting his camel toes mixed up

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Made me though

VW: I am setting up the video cam now! I wanna see that scenario...NOT!

Benwj: Power to your elbow! Made me giggle like a schoolgirl!

Fnarr! Fnarr!



Knight

benjw, I'm giggling my backside off here! (would put the "a" word but this thread will be sent to Fight Club)

B*tch, No respect to the laws,some of these people still have thier noses stuck-up in the Air.

Well, the local woman was quite the b*tch too, eh? The world is 50% full of b*tches, so you'll just have to cope with us uaebadoo.

kanelli wrote:Well, the local woman was quite the b*tch too, eh? The world is 50% full of b*tches, so you'll just have to cope with us uaebadoo.

I didn't know that all women were bit*hes, but that coming from a woman, I will take her word for it!!!!!

Tom Jones wrote:

kanelli wrote:Well, the local woman was quite the b*tch too, eh? The world is 50% full of b*tches, so you'll just have to cope with us uaebadoo.

I didn't know that all women were bit*hes, but that coming from a woman, I will take her word for it!!!!!

All the ones I married were!



Knight

Life's a bitsh, then you marry one, then you die!