Dubai: A businesswoman was sentenced to a month in jail for flashing her middle finger at two policemen after dining out with friends in a five-star hotel.
The Dubai Misdemeanours Court convicted the 44-year-old Iranian woman, N.I., of committing an indecent gesture in public although she claimed that she only bit her nails and had not flashed her middle finger.
The court also fined N.I. Dh3,000 for consuming liquor and she will be deported after serving her term.
Prosecutors accused the businesswoman of flashing her finger at the Emirati policemen shortly after dining out with her friends in Palm Jumeirah.
N.I. pleaded innocent claiming that she bit her nails and scratched her finger due to a skin disease that she suffers from when the policemen "confusingly thought she flashed her finger in their face".
Prosecutors said the woman consumed liquor and indecently gestured in public.
The defendant claimed that she didn't drink liquor and alleged that the food she had at the hotel was cooked in liquor.
Sources close to the case told Gulf News that N.I. provided the court with a medical report confirming that she suffers from psoriasis.
The report said she remains under treatment because she suffers itchiness in her hands and legs.
Records said the policemen spotted N.I. jumping into the backseat of a car and flashed her middle finger in their face.
The policemen chased the vehicle that carried the defendant for two kilometres then asked the driver to follow them to the nearest police station.
N.I. was sent for examination. She tested positive for liquor.
When asked about the findings, she said: "The liquor in my blood must have been there because the food at the hotel was cooked in liquor."
The primary judgement remains subject to appeal within 12 days.
