# Does the punishment fit the crime?



## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

2 months jail and deportation for giving a muslim employee "the finger" at the airport?

If the UAE wants to be treated like a world class country, then surely they have to do something about these pathetic laws.

Or is it because certain nationalities don't have backbones or enough intelligence to argue back??

Here.


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## Guest (Nov 14, 2010)

Andy Capp said:


> 2 months jail and deportation for giving a muslim employee "the finger" at the airport?
> 
> If the UAE wants to be treated like a world class country, then surely they have to do something about these pathetic laws.
> 
> ...


The person involved works for the UN. That should be good for international relations


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

It's also in 7 days - that most intellectual of papers here, look at the last comment, it makes a very fair case.

7 Days

Gotta love "Our Stace"...


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

I thought it was compulsory for anyone who had a christian name as a suname to be a hair dresser!


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## wandabug (Apr 22, 2010)

I have no sympathy for the guy. The rest of us manage to go through customs without kicking off and giving someone the finger. It's simple, show a bit of respect and you don't go to prison, another Brit being a prat and giving us a bad name.


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

wandabug said:


> I have no sympathy for the guy. The rest of us manage to go through customs without kicking off and giving someone the finger. It's simple, show a bit of respect and you don't go to prison, another Brit being a prat and giving us a bad name.


Where do i say he's NOT in the wrong?

What I said was, does the punishment fit the crime?

I don't think it does, fine him by all means, but 2 months and deport???

Now compare and contrast that with the racist muslim thugs in the UK that were burning poppies last week, they "got away" scot free while a right wing group doing the opposite and (for example) burning the koran, would have been hauled before the beak for "inciting racial hatred".

The punishment does not fit the crime, how you can say it does is frankly beyond me.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Whilst i certainly do not condone the guys reaction I have had first hand experience of the level of customer service provided by some of the security staff at DXB. 
Once travelling with hand baggage i was pulled out of the queue for a bag search and the female security started literally throwing my stuff on the desk beside her. I asked her quite politely if she was going to take everything out of my bag like that as i had some breakables. She paused looked at me in contempt and called her supervisor over and asked me to repeat what I had just said. At this point while restating the question very slowly I got out my airport pass which has the word officer in the job title (aparently this makes a lot of difference) and my govt id. 
It was amazing the immediate change in attitude, my bag search was halted, i was appologised to and asked if i wanted help in repacking.
Now if I hadn`t been an employee with a fancy job title what was that security girl going to do next?
In my experience security in airports all over the world is full of people who would have fitted in well in the Third Reich however the penalties for having an opinion of your own are more severe here than anywhere else i`ve been to.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Anyway i`m off to drive down SZR on two wheels, because i have practiced that kind of thing before so it must be fine. That only gets a 1000dhs fine and I can probably sell the video footage for more than that!


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## wandabug (Apr 22, 2010)

I know what you are saying A/C, but anyone with normal intelligence knows that what you as a westerner considers a minor offence can carry a harsh sentence here. So why go and do something so stupid knowing what the consequences might be? Or is it really so difficult to not throw a finger in someones face? It's not a question of does the punishment fit the crime, you cannot compare sentences between 2 different countries and cultures. The fact is he must have known what could happen, the rest of us do, or is he so arrogant he thinks they wouldn't dare treat him like that.


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

I wonder which finger he used :confused2:


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

So Wanda, a AED1000Dhs fine for endangering peoples (that's YOU and YOUR'S) lives by driving recklessly is less of a "crime" or maybe it's cos the accused were Emiratis?

I know which I think is by far the worst.


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## wandabug (Apr 22, 2010)

Andy Capp said:


> So Wanda, a AED1000Dhs fine for endangering peoples (that's YOU and YOUR'S) lives by driving recklessly is less of a "crime" or maybe it's cos the accused were Emiratis?
> 
> I know which I think is by far the worst.


No it is a very serious crime and should carry a heavy sentence but they know they can get away with it, that is why they drive the way they do. If they knew they were going to get a 2 month prison sentence they would drive carefully. Therefore if you know the seriousness of the punishment don't do the crime.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Clearly the guy is a bit of a fool without decent manners for such behaviour (& of course he has to be a Brit :frusty but the punishment absolutely does not fit the crime.

His punishment is totally out of proportion, particularly taking into account the high profile cases.

It is for actions like this that Dubai gets a poor reputation worldwide.


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## zin (Oct 28, 2010)

As with anything in newspapers the whole story is not obvious to us. For all we know he was abusive and rude and did himself no favours even after being arrested and they just wanted to make an example of him because of it. Maybe if he showed a bit of humility and was polite and apologetic he may have just gotten a slap on the wrist. 

Who bloody knows with this country though. You can get thrown to jail for swearing yet they play Lily Allen's **ck you song in kids stores.


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## Saint Ari (Oct 1, 2010)

pinkie?



pamela0810 said:


> I wonder which finger he used :confused2:


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

The law being heavy handed yet again! Yes, the guy was rude (and ain't we all at times!) but ultimately, without knowing his reasons for flicking the finger, I wouldn't beat him down. For those of us who travel fairly often, we would appreciate that airport staff seem to put in a lot of effort in being rude, asking pointless questions and just generally going out of their way to p**s off anyone they come across. I can imagine that after a long flight, anyone could lose their rag and react to that kind of behaviour in the heat of the moment.

Immigrations officers, for example, are not meant to be friendly people (not even in my own country - can't stand them!) but over here it seems that they go that extra mile to be difficult...not because they are protecting their borders but simply because they can! I've had so many instances when I've wanted to tell someone what I really think of them but have had to bite my tongue for fear of being convicted of having an opinion!

My two pence.


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## Dozza (Feb 17, 2009)

A taxi driver gave me the middle finger ( :boxing: ) when I had a go at him for driving like an idiot.....Maybe I should have called the police


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## DiscoveryGardens (Nov 11, 2010)

Felixtoo2 said:


> Whilst i certainly do not condone the guys reaction I have had first hand experience of the level of customer service provided by some of the security staff at DXB.
> Once travelling with hand baggage i was pulled out of the queue for a bag search and the female security started literally throwing my stuff on the desk beside her. I asked her quite politely if she was going to take everything out of my bag like that as i had some breakables. She paused looked at me in contempt and called her supervisor over and asked me to repeat what I had just said. At this point while restating the question very slowly I got out my airport pass which has the word officer in the job title (aparently this makes a lot of difference) and my govt id.
> It was amazing the immediate change in attitude, my bag search was halted, i was appologised to and asked if i wanted help in repacking.
> Now if I hadn`t been an employee with a fancy job title what was that security girl going to do next?
> In my experience security in airports all over the world is full of people who would have fitted in well in the Third Reich however the penalties for having an opinion of your own are more severe here than anywhere else i`ve been to.


And had you not pulled your ID out? would the woman have claimed you said something you hadn't?

Maybe the guy didn't flick the bird at all.

I know a guy who threw his arm up in despair trying to communicate with security who ended up in prison-100% not the sort of person to use a rude gesture.

At the end of the day it was their word against his- 

If Survivng Dubai requires all of us expats walking about in false modesty with locals- surely its not worth it?

At the end of the day you, your wife, your son or your daughter could be booked for anything at all- thats the reality we all live with.


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Over here all it takes is for someone to say you gave him the "bird" to actually be charged with it. The accuser usually doesn't even have to prove that you actually did it and you aren't allowed to prove you didn't. 

I know someone who had this happen to him (well third hand knowledge) and second hand knowledge of someone who was accused of assaulting someone even though the victim had no proof, not a scratch on him and didn't even have to show up at court. 

Sadly the gulf countries are full of these unjust laws that favor locals a lot while persecuting expats and it's quite funny how we all still flock to their shores despite the increase and ridiculousness of some cases.

If this guy did indeed do this then he deserved to be punished as I wouldn't even do that to an NZ airport officer (and they held me up for over an hour too for nothing!) but not the 2 months prison. A fine plus deportation is fine, maybe even a week in jail. If not then it just shows how insane things can get here.

How about that Ikea incident, the judge won't allow video footage to be admissible! So it is down to who believes what and what nationality they have! The woman's baby got so angry he threw him/herself and the mother at the guy's fist! How dare she!


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

As a slightly different example I got two traffic violation fines (not speeding) from Abu Dhabi Police. The only slight problem I have with this is that it was at 04.30 in the morning in October on one of my days off when I was in bed and my car was in the underground garage. Oh and also the fact that i haven`t been in Abu Dhabi since September, but apart from that i`m sure the police are correct.
DO you think i`ll get off??


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## sabfrance (Sep 9, 2010)

Felixtoo2 said:


> I thought it was compulsory for anyone who had a christian name as a suname to be a hair dresser!


... or a flight attendant...


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## Saint Ari (Oct 1, 2010)

What a coincidence ... I just got a traffic fine last Friday ... 7:30 am (damn white CRV mobile camera)... where I'm usually either in bed ... or online chatting with someone ... 

WHat are my chances? LOL


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

Felixtoo2 said:


> As a slightly different example I got two traffic violation fines (not speeding) from Abu Dhabi Police. The only slight problem I have with this is that it was at 04.30 in the morning in October on one of my days off when I was in bed and my car was in the underground garage. Oh and also the fact that i haven`t been in Abu Dhabi since September, but apart from that i`m sure the police are correct.
> DO you think i`ll get off??


My colleague did challenge a speeding ticket in Abu Dhabi. They just swapped the dates and time and told her to pay. Apparently, there was a mistake when they entered the information on the system...
I've had one fine here and the justification for it...'don't know ma'am, it says here to give you fine!'


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## Dozza (Feb 17, 2009)

maz25 said:


> i've had one fine here and the justification for it...'don't know ma'am, it says here to give you fine!'


haha:d


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## jander13 (Mar 12, 2009)

> My colleague did challenge a speeding ticket in Abu Dhabi. They just swapped the dates and time and told her to pay. Apparently, there was a mistake when they entered the information on the system...
> I've had one fine here and the justification for it...'don't know ma'am, it says here to give you fine!'


can't challenge u.a.e justice!


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## jander13 (Mar 12, 2009)

oh and we received a speeding ticket a few months ago at work, apparently one of the vehicles registered under the company was going over 150km/h so i checked to see which vehicle the license plate belonged to and it turned out to be the heavy construction vehicle that can barely go 20 km/h.

thankfully there was enough doubt in the case to challenge even the U.A.E justice system so they canceled the ticket!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

my mother had a similar problem, got a speeding ticket or something in AD. She hadn't been there and only went once or twice before by bus or taxi so clearly it wasn't her. So in order to get it sorted out she had to go to AD to tell them that she hadn't been to AD lol Eventually they found out it they had just put the wrong license plate details into the system.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

UAE and Justice in the same sentence?


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

Show respect or go home!


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

Mr Rossi said:


> Show respect or go home!


PMSL!


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

However, just be pleased you're not in Sharjah...

100 lashes?


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

LOL I laugh at the sharjah folk everyday!


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

:spit: That is such a farse... All the prostitutes everywhere and they are lashing some poor housemaid.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

Jynxgirl said:


> :spit: That is such a farse... All the prostitutes everywhere and they are lashing some poor housemaid.


If lashing the prostitutes and their clients, it might involve lashing some locals too


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Plus some of them might actually be into that sort of fetish


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## jander13 (Mar 12, 2009)

> Plus some of them might actually be into that sort of fetish


some might be an understatement here!


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