A Dubai appeals court on Sunday upheld a one-month prison sentence for a British couple convicted of kissing in a restaurant. The pair landed in court after an Emirati woman complained about the public kiss, which the couple insisted was just a peck on the cheek. They were arrested in November and convicted of inappropriate behaviour and illegal drinking.
Cosmopolitan Dubai has the most relaxed social codes in the conservative Gulf, but authorities enforce strict decency laws and regularly crack down on people accused of pushing the limits, which can include everything from wearing a mini skirt to losing one's temper in traffic.
Last month an Indian couple was sentenced to three months in jail for exchanging steamy text messages. In 2008, two Britons accused of having sex on the beach got three months in jail, though their sentences were later suspended. Ayman Najafi and Charlotte Adams _ both in their 20s _ were arrested after an Emirati woman claimed they exchanged a passionate kiss in a restaurant where she and her daughter were having dinner.
Najafi and Adams told the court in a previous hearing that they kissed on the cheek as a greeting. They said they were not in a relationship, but knew each other before they met in Dubai.
Najafi worked for a marketing firm in Dubai and Adams was visiting the Muslim city-state with a Western outlook that has become famous for its beaches, ever-taller skyscrapers and anything-goes attitude.
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