Two charged with prostitution after CID sting

Abu Dhabi: An Iraqi and a Palestinian woman are facing charges of prostitution after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) allegedly caught them while posing as clients, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance heard on Monday.

A video recording of the conversation that took place between the undercover officers and the defendants, A.A. and N.M., was examined by a technical expert from the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD).

While testifying in court, the expert S.A. said: “The word adultery itself was not used. However, around minute 7:17 one of the officers says, ‘You know that he [the other officer] wants to perform you know’. This therefore means that the two were speaking of an act familiar to both listener and speaker but that was not directly defined during the conversation.”

S.A. also mentioned that one of the defendants was inquiring, during the recording, why they were choosing a hotel apartment and not somewhere that was more private like a hotel or a villa.

“This is when the officer replied that such places are crowded,” the expert told the court.

In response, the defence lawyer stated that the expert was of Jordanian nationality and was unfamiliar with the slang term ‘you know’ that was mentioned in the recording by the Emirati officer.

“I would like to clarify that ‘you know’ does not necessarily mean something negative in Emirati,” the lawyer said. “The man does not know the dimensions of the word as I would not be able to know the dimensions of slang terms in his language if I visited his country.”

Although the defence was scheduled to argue its case during the hearing, the lawyer asked the court that the date for presenting the case be postponed.

The trial was adjourned until December 22.