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28 March 2024

Male ‘prostitute’ appeals verdict

Published

A lawyer is seeking to win the acquittal of his client, an Emirati student [nicknamed Hamdan British] who is serving a three-year sentence for wearing bikinis and posting his pictures on the internet, according Gulf News.

"My client, MS, [22-year-old student] was unlawfully arrested and detained... He has pleaded not guilty and we are seeking to clear his charges," MS's lawyer Jasem Al Naqbi argued before the Dubai Court of Appeal on Tuesday, reported the newspaper.

After the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted MS and jailed him for three years, he appealed the primary judgment and is seeking innocence before the Appeal Court.

Al Naqbi contended before Presiding Judge Mustafa Al Shennawi: "Law enforcement officers claimed that there were indecent pictures of my client cross-dressed. Meanwhile, MS claims that the pictures were stolen from his mobile phone. The case lacks concrete evidence that he published his photos on the internet."

According to the primary judgment, MS was found guilty of posing as a male prostitute and posting on the internet, indecent pictures of him wearing bikinis in an attempt to seduce men. The Emirati student had pleaded not guilty.

The primary court also dismissed a civil lawsuit of Dh20,000 in temporary compensation which was lodged by another Emirati suspect against the 22-year-old, said the newspaper.

The suspect claimed [in his civil lawsuit] that when he took snapshots of the 22-year-old wearing women's wear, he was unaware that the latter will post them on internet.

According to records, he was also charged with allowing the other Emirati suspect to have consensual sex with him. 

According to the charge sheet, Chief Prosecutor Hamad Juma Al Khalafi charged MS with offending Islam by taking a picture of himself dressed as a woman wearing a hijab and make-up while pretending to read the Quran, reported Gulf News. He deemed MS's act as a violation of the Quran's sanctity slandering Islam.