Transgender Singaporean to be deported from UAE after prison sentences are quashed
Transgender Singaporean to be deported from UAE after prison sentences are quashed
Two Singaporeans arrested for wearing women's clothes in an Abu Dhabi mall have had their prison sentences quashed and instead will be heavily fined and deported from the emirate.
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The pair will be deported from the UAE [AFP]
Two Singaporeans arrested for "cross dressing" in Abu Dhabi will be deported from the UAE after their prison sentences were quashed, local media have reported.
Fashion photographer Mohammed Fadli Abdul Rahman and transgender Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim were sentenced to one year in prison, after they were arrested on 9 August wearing women's clothing at an Abu Dhabi mall.
They were charged with breaking Article 358 of the UAE penal code for "indecent attire" and sentenced to jail, according to Abu Dhabi daily, The National.
In a victory for the pair, their prison sentences were reduced on Sunday to a 10,000 UAE dinar ($2,700) fine and deportation.
Activists had helped raise money to pay for their legal fees.
Despite its liberal reputation, the UAE has some of the toughest and most conservative laws in the region.
The UK foreign office warns nationals visiting the UAE that "cross-dressing is illegal" and "women should dress modestly when in public areas like shopping malls".
In May, two transgender UAE nationals born as women petitioned the state to be legally recognised as men, according to local media.
Fashion photographer Mohammed Fadli Abdul Rahman and transgender Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim were sentenced to one year in prison, after they were arrested on 9 August wearing women's clothing at an Abu Dhabi mall.
They were charged with breaking Article 358 of the UAE penal code for "indecent attire" and sentenced to jail, according to Abu Dhabi daily, The National.
In a victory for the pair, their prison sentences were reduced on Sunday to a 10,000 UAE dinar ($2,700) fine and deportation.
Activists had helped raise money to pay for their legal fees.
Despite its liberal reputation, the UAE has some of the toughest and most conservative laws in the region.
The UK foreign office warns nationals visiting the UAE that "cross-dressing is illegal" and "women should dress modestly when in public areas like shopping malls".
In May, two transgender UAE nationals born as women petitioned the state to be legally recognised as men, according to local media.
