Egyptian actress Zeina denies attacking and insulting American family on holiday
An Egyptian film star accused of assaulting an Arab-American family while on holiday in Dubai yesterday denied the attack.
At Dubai Court of Misdemeanours, actress Zeina, 38, and her sister, 41, denied assaulting and insulting a man, his wife and daughter, who she said were filming her while she was dining at Atlantis, The Palm.
“I swear to God that these people are not telling the truth,” Zeina told the court. “I am a famous actress and I would not attack anyone.”
Court papers show the celebrity and her sister screamed at the family using “very strong language” and physically fought with them.
A report from the forensics laboratory revealed that no video or picture of the actress was found on the mobile phone belonging to the daughter, 12.
The American tourist, 48, and his wife, 44, were also charged with assaulting the actress and her sister, and insulting them publicly.
Yesterday, the man denied the charges, but his wife did not attend court.
The man said that on June 29, he and his family were at a lounge inside the hotel when he heard someone screaming at his daughter in Arabic, calling her an animal.
He said he approached the woman, Zeina, and told her his daughter did not speak Arabic.
“I told her that my daughter was born and raised in the US,” the father said. “I told her it was inappropriate to scream like that using such words, but she shifted to English and cursed all of us, accusing my daughter of filming her.”
A fight broke out and police arrested everyone involved, taking them to Al Barsha station where Zeina’s sister told officers that six people had been taking photos of them at the hotel.
Lawyer Awatif Mohammed, who is representing the tourist and his wife, called on the court to drop the charges against the family because there was no evidence that they attacked the actress.
Ms Mohammed also requested that charges against the actress and her sister be amended to include threatening to commit an indecent public act and physically assaulting her clients’ daughter.
“A legal translation of the insults indicate that the two threatened to subject my client and his wife to an indecent act, which is punishable by a minimum of six months in prison and deportation,” Ms Mohammed said.
She said prosecutors had overlooked a medical report from Rashid Hospital that indicated the daughter suffered scratches on her left arm and swelling of the right temple after the alleged attack.
Mahmoud Azab, the lawyer representing Zeina and her sister, asked the court to press assault charges on the daughter and add a sexual assault charge against the husband for touching the breast of Zeina’s sister.
Mr Azab also submitted a medical report stating his clients suffered bruising as a result of the incident.
“The wife pulled the actress by her hair, then she and her daughter assaulted her. She attacked Zeina’s sister and bumped her head against a cement pole,” he claimed.
Mr Azab disputed the family’s statement that their daughter does not speak Arabic because the lawyer said she is of Syrian origin.
Ms Mohammed responded by providing documents indicating that the girl, who is actually of Egyptian descent, was questioned by police and prosecutors through a translator because she did not speak Arabic.
The verdict will be issued on January 24.