Two Asian men were sentenced to jail for a year in Abu Dhabi for crossdressing in public, a considered crime in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Freelance fashion photographer Muhammad Fadli Abdul Rahman, 37, and his friend Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim, 37, (both Singaporeans) were arrested on August 9 at the food court of a shopping mall. Rahman was in Abu Dhabi for work.
Nur’s 34-year-old sister who wants to be identified as Madam Rozy told The Straits Time that his personal documents still indicates that his gender is still male.
Madam Rozy also said that Nur already visited the UAE for four times and he usually comes back to their country safe.
“We have a family WhatsApp group and Fifi often sent us messages whenever she was away. This time, she suddenly went silent and this was out of character. A few days later, we received a voice message from her saying she had been arrested. I was shocked,” she said.
Moreover, Fadli’s brother said that his sibling was wearing “a normal white shirt” but was arrested by the tourism police for wearing earrings.
Fadli’s family said they were informed of his arrest by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign affairs last week and was told that he had been sentenced to a year in jail on Sunday.
A court document in Arabic said Nur and Fadli were caught wearing women’s clothes in public and behaving indecently.
Credit: The Strait Times
