UAE legal system impartial - officials

Dubai: The UAE penal code is being applied equally to all those live in this country, nationals and residents, said top judicial officials.

This was in response to accusations by some local residents that authorities were softer on Britons who committed crimes compared to members of other nationalities, who would face stiffer penalties for similar offences.

The issue came to light after the case of a British woman named Marnie Pearce, who was convicted in November and sentenced to six months in jail for committing adultery.

Another case involved the now-famous beach sex couple who have since been deported without having to serve their jail sentences.

A number of residents accused police and judicial system in the country of being lenient with Britons in case they break the law.

"Every crime has its own circumstances. Verdicts have nothing to do with the gender or nationality of the accused. The punishment is left to the judge who decides based on the status of the case," said Judge Mohammad Yousuf, deputy director for Dubai's courts. Describing the judicial system as honest, he added: "Nobody can put pressure on the court and the judicial system."

Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, chief of Dubai Police, described Britons as well-behaved residents.

"Discipline is originally British. Britons are known for being respective of the law. Britons breaking the law and then going to foreign media to defame the name of the country are isolated cases," he said.

He was referring to the British woman, Pearce, who told a UK daily that she suffered at the hands of "barbaric" Dubai police officers. The beach sex couple also talked to the UK media and attacked the UAE judicial system.

"Let me tell you that the Britons were the people who got upset the most from the behaviour of the beach sex couple," Tamim added.

"Police may not agree with judicial verdicts, but we respect the rulings," he said.

Brigadier Ali Alwan, chief of Ajman Police, said the law was being implemented equally on everybody, regardless of who they were and where they came from.

Pearce, who was also accused of breaking into an apartment of an Indian man in Al Diyafah area with the help of two other women on October 22, told the UK daily she was afraid to lose custody of her children.

According to police, Pearce will also face court questioning for her false witness account in another case heard on August 21.

Adultery

Pearce has been living at a women's shelter run by Dubai's Sharla Musabih, after being accused of having sexual affairs with a man in her house in front of her children and the housemaid. Her husband said that he failed to file a case against his wife because it was a "family affair."

According to the court records, her housemaid told the public prosecution that Pearce used to invite her boyfriend home while her husband was way. Investigations later proved that she was having sexual relations with her boy friend in her husband's house.

The boyfriend left the UAE the same day the husband came to know about their affair.

Shameful: Defaming the UAE

Marnie Pearce lived at Sharla Musabih's villa since March 29 and she was one of Sharla's supporters.

Sharla recently appeared in Israeli media, where she defamed and mangled the good name of the UAE and some senior officials in the country.

Simon Goldsmith, Second Secretary of Political and Media Affairs at the British Embassy in Dubai, said: "We advise British nationals to respect the rules and regulations of the country they are in."

- Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter