Original article found in The Gulf News
By Bassam Za'Za', staff reporter
Dubai: Two Emirati men will each spend 15 years in prison for kidnapping and having sex with a 15-year-old French boy against his will, ruled a court on Wednesday.
The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the men - a 35-year-old Aids patient and his 18-year-old compatriot - and referred the victim’s compensation claim of Dh15 million to a civil court.
Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir pronounced the ruling in the absence of the accused. They refused to be brought to the court from prison.
Dubai Government spokesperson in this case, Dr Habib al Mulla of Dr Habib Al Mulla and Co Advocates and Legal Consultants, told Gulf News: “This judgement proves the position that we have continuously been making which is that we should leave the system to take its course.
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14 comments:
The sentence is very disturbing in it's leniency for the Emiratis, but not surprising.
I have read a few articles about this situation, and as usual, some of the details are very confusing. Supposedly it was the French boy and his friend, but the friend apparently wasn't bothered? Why not? The most horrendous detail is that the 35 year old has AIDS. So far the victim has tested negative.
It surprises me that the Emirates has such lenient rape punishment. I recall the first year I was in Egypt, 5 men were hung for gang raping an Egyptian woman.
How much of the leniency is because the victim is male.
VS
I agree w/ both of you. If you saw him on 20/20, he said he was almost charged w/ homosexuality, since there's no such thing as 'raping' another man. The other friend was 'sent away' during the rape-supposedly over the sand dunes and through the woods, out of earshot of his friend being gang raped.
I can't recall... was the friend Emirati? You often heard of young boys being raped in the Gulf, but they were usually 3rd world expat kids... the usual safe targets.
I always thought that they likely chose to rape boys because it was in a strange way... protecting the women... who always end up being punished as much as the rapists. And for her, it is a lifetime sentence.
VS
Male on male rape is a pretty big problem in the Gulf.
One would wonder what the sentence would have been if a Westerner raped an Emirate man?
We all know if the victim had been a woman than the sentence would have been much worse.
Considering one of the attackers has HIV, I think a more appropraite charge, at least for him, would be attempted murder along with the rape.
Abu Sinan, I gotta agree. As if rape isn't bad enough, you knowingly risk passing HIV to the kid. I can't believe the courts weren't harsher on that count.
I agree too,that was attempted murder as well as rape.
The poor child. The crime will be edged in his memory of the violence,the piercing pain,the bleeding that probably occured from the pressure and the force of the ordeal.And it will not be easy for him to forget the screams and the horror and the humiliation he felt at hands of the sexual offenders.
These crimes of children being raped should no longer be tolerated,enough is enough.And I for one will pray for the 15 year old French boy.
Oh my, so depressing. Has anyone heard from the perpetrators? How do they explain themselves
M, I originally thought there were the two older boys plus the school boy that promised a ride in the car to the two boys (french and another foreiger, if I recall correctly). I heard one of the parties plead guilty, and I think it was the school kid. These older guys, I believe, plead not guilty. I'll have to dig up the article again, unless another reader recalls off the top of their head.
I don't recall all the details, but I did send either a NYT or WaPo article to a friend in Abu Dhabi who said it provided much more information than the local media provided (not surprising.) Personally, I think it was lenient due to the fact that the perp was an Emirati. Plus, they wanted to charge the victim, as well. I do recall hearing something about the young local friend verifying the victim's story. I'm not sure though.
One of the Mid East blogs I read was upset that the death penalty was not given to the perp since he does have AIDS.
The sentence didn't make much sense to me, but then I always felt that the UAE justice system was ambiguous, and much depended on who you were, who you knew, if you could pay blood money, etc.
Agreed, Vagabond. The blood money went civil court...translation: they'll never see the 15 million dirhams.
The kid's family lives here in Switzerland and it was all over the news. Evidently the one judged in the minor court (the friend) is the only one from a good family. So the older perps were from "bad" families, no wasta, and even with AIDS tehy still got a lenient sentence. Think the young perp is going to get off real easy. Sickening. I agree with Abu Sinan, what if the Westerner had done it.
VS, i know you made a comment and though I thought I had published it, it seems to be lost. You asked if the boy was emirati. I presume you're asking about the minor who was charged. I was under the impression he was the emirati, and I believe the only one who plead guilty. Anyone know differently?
My comment is up there.
I am now confused. How many people are involved here? I thought it was the French boy and his friend, who people seem to be saying was an Emirati... and the two Emirati rapists. The 'friend' was supposedly sent over the nearest dune or some such.
So is the Emirati friend also being charged now? Was he in on providing this French boy to the rapists?
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