A British man has been sentenced to three years in prison for having drunken sex in public in Dubai, The National reported yesterday.
The Emirates-based English newspaper identified the 28-year-old British male teacher only by his initials PA. He admitted to having consensual gay sex in February with MB, a 40-year-old man from the Seychelles, next to a petrol station.
The pair stopped to have sex against a tree near the petrol station when drunk after a birthday celebration.
A man parked behind the petrol station reported them to the police.
The two men tried to escape but were apprehended by police officers.
In March this year the men were sentenced to three years in jail for having consensual sex and consuming alcohol. They will be deported after serving their prison terms.
Purchasing and consuming alcohol in the Dubai Emirate is illegal without a license issued only to non-Muslim residents. The law also dictates that those who perform ‘obscene public acts and violations of public decency’ should receive no less than a six-month jail term.
Homosexuality and consensual gay sex are illegal, carrying prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Pink News reports that a spokesperson for the United Emirates LGBT group commenting on the case of the British and Seychelles said: ‘The Emirates rules and laws on public displays of affection and indecency are clear and therefore must be respected.
‘We would have hoped the court would have fined and deported the men, or at the very most hand a sentence of anything between a three to six months sentence followed by deportation.
‘The length of jail term handed down in this sentence, however, compared with straight equivalent and even the previous gay sex case seems to us uneven, excessive and unjustly harsh.’
A spokesman for the British Foreign Office reportedly said: ‘We are aware of the arrest of the British national in Dubai and are providing consular assistance to the British national and their family.’
