Dubai court upholds engineer's jail term

Dubai: An aviation engineer failed to be acquitted for indecently gesturing in public at two plainclothes policemen.

The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld a six-month suspended jail term against the 59-year-old French engineer, D.M., and convicted him of flashing his middle finger in the faces of two Emirati policemen while driving on Business Bay Bridge.

When D.M. appeared before the appellate court, he pleaded innocent. The accused sought to be acquitted. The court rejected his appeal and confirmed the primary judgement. The defendant also faces a deportation order.

His lawyer contended that his client did not have any criminal intention. "In the West, it's an Anglo-Saxon habit that someone flashes his middle finger unlike in our culture…where it is an act punishable by law. The two cultures differ," his lawyer argued before the appeal court.

The appellate judgement remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 27 days.

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Engineers 'took illegal photos of embassy'

Haneen Dajani

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ABU DHABI // Three men charged with taking illegal photos of the Qatari Embassy argued they were actually photographing the nearby Capital Gate tower, the State Security Court heard yesterday.

The tower, in front of the embassy and adjacent to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, has a unique leaning structure.

None of the defendants were identified. The first said he was only accompanying the other two men and did not take any photos, while the second said he took photos of the tower only.

The judge then showed him the picture in question, and the second man admitted taking it, but said he was not aiming at the embassy.

The third defendant said he was going to take pictures but realised it was a no-photo zone and did not.

Their lawyer said the three were engineers and often took pictures of any spectacular buildings they saw. He also asked to photocopy the case files and prepare his defence.

The case was adjourned until Monday.

A few weeks ago, a foreign man faced charges of taking photos of the General Armed Forces headquarters, located opposite Sheikh Zayed Mosque. The man argued that he was taking photos of the mosque and did not know the military facility was there. He was fined Dh300.

Similarly, a few months ago a Korean architect was fined Dh500 for taking photos of the Syrian and Iranian embassies.

hdajani@thenational.ae

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Three men are charged with taking pictures of the Qatari Embassy.

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