Dubai Beach Sex Pair Seek Quickie Trial

(AP)  A British couple on trial for allegedly having sex on a Dubai beach asked the judge on Tuesday to be allowed to leave the country.

Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors, speaking in low voices, asked the judge for a "quick ruling" that would let them return to Britain. But judge Hamad Abdul Jawad disregarded the request and scheduled another hearing for Sept. 9 to hear testimony from the policeman who arrested the couple.

Palmer, 36, and Acors, 34, were arrested in the early hours July 5 on a Dubai beach after they had been at a hotel party. They were later charged with having sex outside of marriage, public indecency and public drunkenness.

The case has highlighted the strong contrasts in the booming United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai. The city has a much more freewheeling attitude than other places in the Gulf, with cash flowing from oil and finance and a huge expatriate population. But the case is a reminder that it remains a conservative Arab nation underneath.

Legal experts say the couple could face up to two years in prison if convicted. The case raised a media storm here, and partway through Tuesday's session the judge ordered journalists out of the courtroom.

"I hope they will not get any penalty, God willing," the couple's Dubai-based lawyer, Hassan Matter, told The Associated Press after the session.

He said medical examinations of Palmer after the arrest "prove she did not have sex," though he did not elaborate. He also dismissed one witness who told the court he saw the couple having sex, saying the witness was far away and it was nighttime.

Palmer, a former employee of a Dubai-based publishing firm, told the court during an August session that she and Acors, a tourist visiting Dubai, were "hugging and kissing" but did not have sex.

Public display of affection, such as touching, kissing or hugging, is illegal in Dubai and couples - particularly if not married - can be detained by police for indecency.

In July, a few days after the British couple was detained, Dubai police announced it has arrested 79 people, mostly tourists, for topless sunbathing, nudity and other acts authorities deemed indecent.

[keithle1]

Fornicate with your w h o r e in the privacy of your soundproof luxury hotel suite, if you please. Do whatever you want to her. We don''t care. If she has difficulty walking after you''re through, all the better.

HAVE A BLESSED DAY

[avigil2]

"Public display of affection, such as touching, kissing or hugging, is illegal in Dubai and couples - particularly if not married - can be detained by police for indecency."

Dubai really needs to come to grips with today''s social reality. This is totally ludicrous.

[crescentgirl]

goo8fraba2, your comments: "Where would "religious rights" stop? Would it, next, be an outrage to not be allowed to wear a burka? At some point it has to stop. If you don''''t like western ways, move!"

I think your comments show your ignorance and hate for a religion that you simply do not understand. Yes, I do think it is an outrage to not let a woman wear a burka if she CHOOSES to do so. Just like in Christianity, you find people of varying degrees of religiousity and faith...you find the same thing in Islam. Some women, for example that wear burkas may have more conservative views than someone who simply wears a headscarf (hijab). I don''t think that it is your right to judge another human being based on what she choses to wear (or not wear for that matter.) I personally wear a hijab (headscarf) and am proud of that fact and yes I am an American as well, born and bred. I, as an American have a duty to voice my opinion and live my life as i see fit. America was established based on ideas that differed from the "norm." Could you imagine if George Washington had said, you know what...I think the British are right...we should be ruled by them. So, you see my friend,I have as much a right to be here and voice my opinion (that may not always agree with the majority) as you do. If you have a problem with it, please by all means continue with your belly aching...

[tomster1960]

I have been there on military travel and don''t see why anyone would pay to go there. There are a lot better places to go this planet than UAE or anywhere else in the middle east. Don''t waste your money there!

[ajaxtheleast]

They do seem to be in a hurry to do something.

So I gotta believe that the judge will

do whatever he has to do to get them out of

the court room quick like.

[nishaboston]

BS57 I understand what your saying. I myself lives with a partner and I am not married adn we have *** all the time. If feel this is my private life and no ones business, however some countries have laws and so do we. So if it is the law over there that you cannot have *** in public and not being married then that is their laws simple as that. You cannot make excuses for these people. I suggest anyone who visit some of these countries especially countries not in the west visit their with caution.

[whiskyrokr]

Why go there in the first place?

[bs57-2009]

nishaboston,
Ok so we should respect those countries, got it. I respect heritage and other cultures. It''s hard for me to respect governments that oppress people. I do agree with you that the people were stupid and should abide by the laws of the government. I''m not saying every country should act like the US because god knows that the US has some oppressive, stupid laws. I do, however, believe in freedom and if a consenting couple wants to have *** outside marriage then let them. I''m outraged by the lack of human rights displayed by this country, aren''t you?

[whiskyrokr]

Why would anyone spend any of there time in the $hithole Dubai? They know the people are totally nuts.

[nishaboston]

BS57 it does not matter what I am. My pointi s respect other countries laws especially if your going to a muslim country. Also I never said it had the same exact laws but we do have public nudity etc. laws. And just because it was made to protect kids does not matter. You cannot go to a park or beach in the USA and have *** that is against the law period. No we do not send people to jail or hanging for it but we do have those laws.