Sentence sticks for 'sex for money' web convicts

Two men, who were earlier convicted for prostitution and sentenced to three years in jail in absentia, had their sentences upheld by a second judicial panel in Dubai on Tuesday.

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance had sentenced the two men to three years in jail each for offering sex against money.

ASA, 22, jobless Emirati and AHA, 30, Emirati clerk, contested the jail term of three years given to them last March in absentia and asked the Court to assign another judicial panel to hear their case.

The second jury, presided by Judge Mohammed Jamal Kamel, upheld the three years in jail verdict awarded to them.

According to the records, ASA had been detained in a juvenile delinquency centre in 2009 and AHA had served one year in jail in 2007 for the same charge of prostitution. The two had resumed offering sex to men after their release from jail.

Dubai Police found the advertisement and trapped the two Emiratis on September 9 in a hotel room after knowing that ASA, 22, is posting an ad on a website offering sex and dancing against money.

“A policeman was assigned to act a sex customer and he was given with phone number in the ad which contained pictures of a man wearing female underwear and putting make up and signed with a nick name, mobile number and poetic phrases offering sex and dancing,” testified Major Khalid.

The informer sent an SMS to the given number and the accused agreed to offering sex for Dh1,500.

The ‘sex customer’ rented a hotel room and set a date with the advertiser. The advertiser arrived in the hotel and later another man entered the room.

Police raided the room after about 20 minutes after receiving a signal from the ‘sex customer’. “We raided the room and the first accused ASA was completely naked. The other accused AHA was half naked. When confronted, the first admitted to offering sex to men against money. The second accused ASA initially denied offering sex and admitted only to dancing for men but later confessed to offering sex as well,” testified the police officer.

The prosecution supplied the court with SMS messages between the accused and the policeman in addition to their confessions, accusing them of sex with men.

Only the first accused is facing three other charges including using the Internet to seduce men, promote sin and cross dressing.

Checking their records with the police, it was found out that that two had been arrested in two separate cases in 2007. ASA had been found guilty by the court of offering sex and promoting immoral practices in 2009 and had been sent to a juvenile delinquency centre since he was under-aged.

The second accused HAA had been sentenced to two years in jail by the lower court in 2007. He got his sentence reduced to one year in jail by the Appeal and the Cassation court in the same year.

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