Serious Business

"These types of crimes are very serious, and according to the tip-off the department organised a team to investigate the case," said Major Salah Bu Aseeba, Director of the Department of Economic Crimes at Dubai Police."

Damn. What could be so serious? Not only serious, but "very serious"? And not only that, what could be so bad to catch the attention of the "Economic Crimes" department?

Corporate espionage? Price fixing? Cement and steel industry cartels? Monopoly?

No... Far more serious...

VoIP. Seriously.

LA Times: Alleged victim of gang rape sentenced to one year in prison

"The Criminal Court of Abu Dhabi, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, ruled this week that an 18-year-old Emirati woman who accused six men of gang-raping her will herself serve a one-year sentence for consensual sex.

It's one of in the latest in a scourge of reported rape cases in Dubai, The court proceedings were marred by legal travesties, experts say.

While the plaintiff was not granted a lawyer, the defendants were. Moreover, the plaintiff could not have any family members present with her during the trial, the court decided. The prosecution also argued that simply because the plaintiff agreed to enter the police officer's car, this action somehow constituted partial consent to sex, The National reported.

Emirati authorities had kept the plaintiff imprisoned since she made the allegations last month.

Meanwhile, the accused rapists mostly got off lightly. A police officer will serve one year in prison for extramarital sex and two of the other defendants were sentenced to three months for being in the company of a woman not related to them by blood."

More here: DUBAI: Alleged victim of gang rape sentenced to one year in prison (LA times blog)

And the wheels of injustice roll on...

Four years in jail for 0.17 grams of marijuana

Three years in jail for sexually abusing a toddler

Credit Card Warning

How many times have you handed over your credit card to a cashier only to have it returned as soon as its been swiped without your signature being checked against the one on the card?

I tell the cashier "please check my signature", but I wonder if the message sinks in. They don't care if someone has just paid for something with a stolen card.

If it happens to you, I think the best course of action is to educate the cashier as to why they should be checking signatures. Then, you should inform the management that signatures aren't being checked and how it is in their interest that they do this in future. You could also threaten not to go back to the shop as you don't feel happy using your credit card in there while the signature is not being verified.

Daynight Robbery

I don't really feel like talking about it or addressing it, but I feel recent events have bothered me, upset my foundations of security.

My feeling must be shared by the majority. How could they do this? Why did they do it? How come they did it here? Where are they? Have they been caught? Am I still safe? Are you still safe? Who are these people? Why are they here? How dare they do this? Will they get away with it? A thousand other questions. Did this happen? I wish it didn't.

Robbery in Wafi Mall

Apparently there was a pretty daring robbery in Wafi Mall last night.

Here's a video of the robbery in progress.

Pictures, but no names?

I don't get it. Why do news stories go like this:

Police arrested B.N and S.W., at the airport.

During the investigation, the two suspects said the passports were provided by a Sharjah-based man. A team from Abu Dhabi and Sharjah police departments launched another investigation, which led to the arrest of three more gang members in Sharjah. They were identified as S.M., A.N. and H.K.

They told the police the passports were forged by A.K., who lived in Ajman

And then give you a picture of the suspects -- in irons.

We're given initials, not names, but then we're given a picture. So it's not a question of protecting the identity of the arrested is it?

Here's the whole story including the picture.

There's a better example here (The Blind Boys of Jumeirah). In one story the names were given, and then in a later story only initials were used.

Pardon Me?

Mariam Shafeek, 21, was arrested at Dubai Airport last Thursday after being found with 0.2g of marijuana in her purse.

The penalty for marijuana possession in the United Arab Emirates is four years jail, regardless of the amount.
...
Detective Sergeant Greg Murton, of the Christchurch police drug squad, said even 0.5g of marijuana was a "tiny amount".

He said it would be about the size of a 5c piece and would be enough for only "half a marijuana cigarette".

-- more here

It’d be great to see a pardon on this case.