Man, woman jailed for ‘sinful’ romantic liasion

abu dhabi — A pair that was caught alone in a closed place has had their one-month-jail sentence confirmed by the UAE’s top court.

The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi upheld earlier rulings by lower courts that handed down the sentences to the Asian man and woman after they were found guilty of “beautifying the sin” — a term used for non-sexual romantic acts between man and woman who are neither engaged or married.

Official court documents stated that the Asian man and the woman were prosecuted by authorities after they were caught alone in an apartment located in a northern emirate despite them not being married or related to each other which is against the Sharia law.

The Court of First Instance had sentenced the pair to three months in jail after they were found guilty of committing the offence. The sentence was, however, reduced to one month in jail by the Appeal Court. The court also ordered for their deportation.

The Asians went on to challenge the verdict to the UAE’s top court denying any wrongdoing and saying that they were wrongly convicted. The pair told court that there was no evidence to prove that they were alone in an apartment.

The Supreme Court, however, rejected their appeal and convicted them based on evidence presented by the prosecutors, which showed that they were found alone in the apartment. The pair had also confessed to committing the crime during police interrogation.

The offence of beautifying a sinful action comes from the UAE penal law, section 5, article 312, paragraph 3, under the title “Crimes that affect religious beliefs and practices”.

According to the Sharia law, a man being with an unrelated woman together in a place where no one can see them, has been prohibited as it gives way to suspicion and temptation to sin, according to the court.