Free At Last: Brit Jailed In Dubai For Kissing Is Back In The UK

Free at last, the 26-year-old British woman, Charlotte Adams, who was jailed for 23 days for what she claims was a mere peck on the cheek (and I believe her) is finally back home after a harrowing time in a Dubai jail. I still am having a hard time believing that a peck on the cheek (or even if it was a little more than that) in a civilized world would warrant jail time, but that it did, and that, not the kiss, is obscene.

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Adams did admit she flirted with Ayman Najafi, but since when is that a crime?

And she insists she just gave him "a peck on the cheek". And considering she was a frequent business traveler to Dubai, she would know what the rules are. In fact, she had some harsh words for fellow Brits Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors who were arrested and jailed for having sex on the beach, back in 2008.

"I thought they were stupid to behave like that in a Muslim city. Everyone was affected by what it meant. You'd have been stupid to ignore it," she said.

But she denies that her conduct with Mr Najafi compared to that of Miss Palmer and Mr Acors. "I may have pecked him on the cheek at one point but we weren't drunk and I would never have snogged someone in the middle of a crowded restaurant – especially in Dubai," she told The Mail on Sunday.

Apparently she was very fond of Dubai (although I have no idea why) and says she will miss it, although she's relieved to be home.

In her first interview since her release, she said: "It is such a relief. I've thought of nothing else for the last few months.

"I love (Dubai) and it makes me sad that I'll never come back, although I think I'd struggle to ever feel free here again.

"The laws need to evolve to match the culture here. At the moment, it's all just hypocrisy."

I'm not sure it's a question of matching the laws to the culture, since it was a woman in the restaurant who actually reported her in the first place. That sounds like a culture that matches the laws.

Fined £200, she says she would have continued to appeal had she not run out of money.

In her interview she tells of the horrors in the Dubai prison Al Awir, where she was incarcerated with murderers and prostitutes.

Among her fellow inmates was a Russian woman who had chopped up her boyfriend and his lover.

The 26-year-old shared a 23ft by 13ft cell with five others – including a pregnant prostitute who allegedly remained locked up for 24-hours after her waters broke.

"I don't think I slept at all that first night," she said. "The first three days were the hardest. When the doors were locked the first time it was awful. I just lay in the dark and tried not to cry."

Meals were "horrendous" and Miss Adams said she believes the food was laced with sedatives. "You get listless quickly and my mind felt empty," she said.

At 7 a.m. last Friday she walked out a free woman, and was immediately deported. She now can no longer return to Dubai, all because of an innocent kiss, although why she'd want to return is beyond my comprehension. But in spite of her ordeal, she has been able to maintain a good attitude:

Now back in her family home in Mersea Island, Essex, Miss Adams remains defiant. "This hasn't destroyed me, it hasn't changed me. I can wake up tomorrow and feel normal. I don't feel scarred by it and I'm not ashamed of my behaviour," she said.

Nor should she be ashamed. The ones who should truly be ashamed are the Dubai authorities and the woman who reported Adams and Najafi in the first place. They all belong in another century, but certainly not this one.