Sharjah: An Estonian soldier with the Nato peacekeeping force will be given 40 lashes here on Sunday for being drunk.
Sharjah Appeal Court chaired by Judge Younis Habib Al Rida on Saturday confirmed the sentence for 40-year-old Andre Carol.
He was arrested on February 2 for being drunk and for molesting an Egyptian policewoman at Sharjah International Airport. Carol was on a transit flight through Sharjah.
His lawyer, Salem Sahoo from Sahoo Advocate said Carol was sentenced earlier this month by Sharjah Sharia Court to 40 lashes for being drunk and three months in jail for sexual harassment or, alternatively, another 40 lashes.
Sahoo said Carol appealed the sentence, and the Appeals Court confirmed the 40 lashes for being drunk, but commuted the other 40 lashes with a Dh2,000 fine.
"Since Carol had spent 46 days in jail from the day of his arrest, he will be discharged from paying the fine," the lawyer said. The lawyer said his office posted bail for Carol.
"We took bail for Carol last Sunday after pledging one of our employees' passport. It is not as what some newspapers said that the Dutch Embassy had given the bail. It is not true," he said.
The officer, who served in Afghanistan, was arrested at Sharjah International Airport on February 2 while he was on his way to Estonia.
He had a few hours to spend in the airport so he went to the duty free shop and drank a large amount of alcohol. He then went looking for a toilet but found himself in a policewoman's room.
The Egyptian policewoman was taking a nap on a sofa. She felt someone touching her private parts and getting on top of her. Her shouts for help brought more policewoman to the room and they arrested the accused.
