A 21-year-old American student who was sentenced to a year in prison in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly attacking a customs officer simply by touching her arm can finally return home.
• Also read: ‘Humiliated and traumatized’: Dubai student jailed for touching customs officer’s arm
“[L’étudiante est] “I am delighted to be returning to the United States after five months of fear,” said Radha Stirling, president of Detained in Dubai, which represents visitors fighting legal action in the United Arab Emirates, according to The Independent THURSDAY.
After five months in Dubai and tens of thousands of dollars spent on legal fees and hotels, 21-year-old American Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos can finally return to her country after a few-hour transit failed in the popular city.
The young woman’s story sparked a scandal after she was sentenced to a year in prison for allegedly attacking and insulting a customs officer who had just painfully searched her before laughing at her while she was half-naked.
A New York student, Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, was sentenced to a year in a Dubai prison for allegedly assaulting and insulting an airport security guard during a connecting flight. She had only planned a quick stopover and was stuck in Dubai for months. #Travel #Dubai pic.twitter.com/wnW9khMDUd
— US Crime (@OfficialUScrime) October 3, 2023
But according to the student, she only “kindly” touched his arm to get to the door and ask her friend for help putting on a large compressor that she had to carry after the operation, according to British media.
Fortunately, her sentence was overturned and she is expected to board a flight home soon.
“Tourists are vulnerable to vindictive, false and unfounded accusations that could leave them languishing in notorious prisons. They are vulnerable to extortion tactics like those we see from airport workers, car rental companies, taxi drivers, etc.,” Radha Stirling continued, according to The Independent.
She said she believes more needs to be done to protect tourists transiting through the United Arab Emirates and to prevent others like the young woman from being “humiliated and traumatized” by “false accusations.”