A scandalous story involving a tourist unfolds in Dubai: a tourist wanted to help his mother in a wheelchair, but in the end, received first a large fine and then a prison sentence. The fact is that first, the tourist had a row with an airport employee, and then tried to challenge the fine imposed on him in court — but the local court… decided that the initial sentence was unjustifiably lenient, again found the tourist guilty of ill-treatment of an international airport employee and the punishment was increased to three months’ imprisonment.
The gist of the case, as described by PYOK, is this: a man and his mother flew to Dubai on a flight that arrived at Terminal 2 and had to transfer to another flight departing from Terminal 3. They tried to get to another terminal using a shuttle bus, and the man asked for help from his mother and to provide her with a wheelchair. The airport employee explained to him that a wheelchair would be arranged before the shuttle bus departed, but they should wait for the bus without assistance. The tourist caused a scandal when he saw another passenger waiting for the same bus, also in a wheelchair.
“When I tried to explain (the wheelchair policy) to him, he insulted me using very profane language,” the victim, an airport worker, told the court.
She added that she advised the suspect not to swear at her, but this only inflamed the tourist further.
The tourist — who the newspaper reports was British — did not take into account that in Dubai and the wider UAE, “swearing and rude gestures are considered obscene acts, and offenders can be jailed or deported.” This is especially true for swearing towards persons during performance.
He was eventually fined Dh10,000 and attempted to appeal the verdict. However, the Dubai Court of Appeal ruled that the man not only remained guilty of ill-treating a worker but also found the previous sentence too lenient and gave the tourist a three-month sentence.