International support grows for Qatar expat who reported rape in Dubai

As more details emerge about the case of a Qatar-based expat who faces jail time in Dubai after reporting a rape, international support for Marte Deborah Dalelv is growing. The 24-year-old Norwegian interior designer, who said she was raped by a colleague during a business trip to Dubai in March, was apparently sentenced this week by a Dubai court to 16 months in jail for perjury, having sex outside of marriage and drinking without a license. Her alleged attacker, who denied any sexual encounter took place, was sentenced to 13 months for extramarital sex and drinking (a gray area for tourists in Dubai). More than 42,000 people have so far signed a petition calling for the release of Dalelv, who is travel banned from leaving the UAE and has lost her job in Doha, where she lived for two years, her friends have told Doha News. Her appeal is on Sept. 5. What happened Dalelv, who has decided to go public with her story and spoke to numerous news outlets over the weekend, said that during her business trip, she asked her colleague, a married father of three, to walk her to her hotel room after leaving a bar around 3am. He then pulled her into a room that wasn’t hers, she told CNN: "He dragged me by my purse in, so I thought, ‘OK, I just need to calm the situation down. I will finish my bottle of water, I will sit here and then I will excuse myself and say I feel fine,’" she said. That was pretty much the last thing she said she remembers before the alleged sexual assault. “I woke up with my clothes off, sleeping on my belly, and he was raping me. I tried to get off, I tried to get him off, but he pushed me back down." Dalelv eventually went downstairs to the hotel lobby and insisted they call the police. She told the Associated Press that she was given a medical examination seeking evidence of the alleged attack and underwent a blood test for alcohol. She was detained for four days before she was released with the help of her embassy. Since March, she has been staying at the Norwegian Seamen’s Center in Dubai. Since that night, Dalelv and her alleged attacker have been in and of the prosecutor’s office several times. At one point, the expat explained to CNN that she changed her story and said that the sex was consensual, based on advice she received from her manager. It was then that a count of making a false statement was added to her charge sheet. "That was my biggest regret because it wasn’t voluntary. I just thought it would all go away," she said. Lost job Her former employer, Al Mana Interiors, has said in a statement that she was given that advice in Arabic by a police officer, and that her manager simply translated it into English. Speaking to Doha News, friends of Dalelv said she was fired from The One, which operates under Al Mana, in April. According to a copy of the termination letter obtained by Norwegian newspaper VG, Al Mana cites “unacceptable and improper behavior" during her trip to Dubai as a reason for her firing. It is signed by company owner Wissam Al Mana, who made headlines last year after secretly marrying Janet Jackson. But the company said of the termination: "The decision had nothing to do with the rape allegation, and unfortunately neither Ms. Dalelv nor her attorneys have chosen to contact the company to discuss her employment status." In Qatar, Dalelv’s case has stirred up heated discussions about women’s rights in the Gulf and Islam, with some residents saying police officers here did not take their stories of assaults seriously. Thoughts? Credit: Photo courtesy of Free Marte on Facebook Read more: http://dohanews.co/post/56041743622/international-support-grows-for-qatar-expat-who#ixzz2ZjUHZEyO ================== Woman jailed in Dubai after reporting rape hopes to warn others Sun, Jul 21 16:04 PM EDT By Amena Bakr DUBAI (Reuters) - A Norwegian interior designer jailed in Dubai for illicit sex after she reported being raped says she has no regrets about coming forward if her warning will protect others from a similar fate. A court on July 17 sentenced Marte Deborah Dalelv to 16 months in prison for having sex outside marriage, drinking and making false statements. She says a male colleague pulled her into his hotel room and raped her after she asked him to help her find her own room when they had had a few drinks. The 24-year-old has been released on condition she remain at a Norwegian Christian center in Dubai pending the outcome of an appeal. Asked if she regretted reporting the assault, Dalelv said no: "The truth is the only thing that will help me get through this." The news has dominated the front pages in Norway and raised questions about the judicial system in the Gulf state, which lures large numbers of expatriates and tourists with a Western lifestyle but has little-publicized conservative laws on its books covering sex and alcohol. Norway has complained. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told reporters: "We believe this is a completely unacceptable verdict, which is contrary to human rights and the basic sense of justice." In the United Arab Emirates, as in some other countries using Islamic law, a rape conviction can require either a confession or the testimony of four adult male witnesses. According to the UK-based Emirates Centre for Human Rights, Dalelv's is only the latest in a string of cases in which women who have reported being raped have ended up with jail sentences. Among recent cases, a Briton who alleged she had been raped by three men was fined for drinking alcohol. An Emirati woman was sentenced to a year in prison after claiming to have been gang-raped. An Australian woman was sent to prison for 11 months after reporting a gang-rape to police, the Centre said. Dubai promotes itself as a resort destination and a base for international business. Its hotels have licensed nightclubs, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol openly. But rarely-enforced laws actually define it as illegal for residents to drink without a special license that few obtain. Possessing alcohol outside a licensed bar or being drunk in public are offences, even if the alcohol was bought legally. Such laws can be used to prosecute visitors who are involved in accidents or report crimes. In an interview with Reuters, Dalelv said that by coming forward she hoped to alert other people not to expect Western standards of judicial protection. "Dubai seems like a Western city, but what a lot of tourists don't know for example that it's not legal for them to drink alcohol," she said. Dalelv said she did not realize she would be treated as a criminal rather than as a victim, until after she reported the assault and found herself being interrogated at a police station. An officer asked if she was making the rape report because she had not enjoyed sex. "That is when I knew: I don't think they are going to believe me at all," she said. She was held in prison for four days until contact was made with the Norwegian consulate and bail arranged. She still expected to be exonerated when her legal team presented its case. Her conviction came as a shock. "I am very surprised because we had a DNA report, we had a medical report ... and still didn't believe me." (Reporting by Amena Bakr; Editing by William Maclean and Peter Graff) ============================