British national sentenced for 3 months in Dubai for selfie photos

British national sentenced for 3 months in Dubai for selfie photos

A British woman was sentenced to three months in prison in Dubai over a brawl which erupted after her group of friends took selfies with a sleeping businessman in a hotel lobby.

Asa Hutchinson, 22, denied any involvement in the incident but was convicted of assault after her friends fled the Gulf city state.

Her lawyer claimed she had effectively been prosecuted for simply witnessing the altercation in April 2016.

She was charged with assault after voluntarily attending a police station as a witness “to help clarify what occurred”, according to Detained in Dubai, a legal organisation who have been representing her.

Ms Hutchinson, who lived in Dubai at the time, was sentenced in her absence this week after returning home to her family in Chelmsford, Essex.

Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai's chief executive, said: “Asa has been sentenced in absentia, despite there being no evidence to corroborate the questionable testimony of the alleged victim."

 

 

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