Buttock touching sentence dropped
A three-month prison sentence has been dropped for a Scottish man over touching another man’s buttocks in a dispute at a Dubai bar, an activist group said yesterday.
Radha Stirling of Detained in Dubai said Jamie Harron’s passport was returned by police yesterday and that he was planning to leave the sheikhdom soon. The decision came only days after a Dubai court ordered 27-year-old Harron imprisoned over the incident.
Harron was accused by another man of sexual assault for touching his buttocks during a dispute at the bar in July. One of Harron’s friends, British national James Allen, 37, who lives in Dubai, told prosecutors that the Scotsman bumped into the accuser’s arm on accident, sparking the argument, according to the court.
He said Harron apologized to the accuser and “placed his hand on the side of his buttocks as a way of apologizing,” according to court papers.
Harron’s accuser told authorities that the Scotsman had come from behind and hit him on the buttocks while drunk, according to court documents. The accuser said Harron “laughed” when he asked why he did it and later gave him the finger before police arrived.
Harron also faced charges of drinking alcohol without a permit and over allegedly giving the accuser the finger during the argument. He did not attend his court hearing.
Part of Dubai’s year-round tourism draw is also its alcohol sales, as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran ban the purchase of liquor and beer. Even neighboring Sharjah, another of the UAE’s sheikhdoms, bans it.