Pinay, Romanian get added jail term due to lesbian affair in UAE

A Filipina and a Romanian detained at the Dubai Central Jail in the United Arab Emirates will get added time behind bars after authorities reportedly discovered their lesbian affair.

Fellow prisoners had complained about the behavior of the two inmates, according to a report on UAE news site Gulf News on Wednesday.

The Filipina, 36, and the Romanian, 28, were meted an additional month in jail over their consensual lesbian relationship, the report said. Homosexual relations are illegal in the UAE, which punishes it with jail terms.

Both entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court. The two had been jailed earlier after being found guilty in drug-related cases.

Gulf News cited sources who said female prisoners saw the couple in a sexually intimate position in the females’ section at Dubai Central Jail in November.

It said the defendants were believed to be partly undressed, and the other prisoners reported them to a jail warden.

“Some prisoners alleged that the couple were seen hugging, kissing and interacting indecently. The jail warden informed her supervisors. Then the defendants were referred to Al Hibab Police Station for further investigations, during which they pleaded not guilty and denied acting as a lesbian couple,” Gulf News quoted its source as saying.

The report said the Filipina is currently serving a one-year jail term on a drug-related charge.

In the Romanian’s case, she was sentenced by the Dubai Court of First Instance in 2011 to seven years in jail and fined Dh50,000. She was also ordered deported upon serving her term.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the Romanian approached the bench and tried to submit a written defense, but the presiding judge refused to accept it.

According to the judge, the ruling had been pronounced and she should have submitted her defense earlier. She was advised to present her defense before the Appeal Court.

Earlier, Dubai prosecutors charged the two with having a consensual lesbian relationship and indulging in acts of public indecency. The two will be deported after they serve their sentences, though the primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News

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