Qatari court convicts Dutch woman after alleged rape
Tourist given suspended prison sentence and fined after telling police she had been attacked in a Doha hotel
A court in Qatar has convicted a Dutch woman of having sex outside marriage after she told police she had been raped.
The 22-year-old from Utrecht was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for three years, and fined 3,000 riyal (£600).
A lawyer for the woman, who had been holidaying in the country, said her drink had been spiked during a night out at a Doha hotel in March. She woke up in an unfamiliar apartment and realised she had been sexually assaulted.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, after reporting the assault to police, she was detained on charges of committing illicit sex acts and held for three months.
Her alleged attacker, identified by Al Jazeera as Omar Abdullah al-Hasan, claimed the sex was consensual.
He was also convicted of having sex outside of marriage and sentenced to 100 lashes, plus 40 for consuming alcohol. He will reportedly be deported to his home country of Syria.
A Qatari court official told Al Jazeera the woman's sentence was "lenient".
"Had she been a Muslim woman, she would have received at least five years in jail," he said. "No one can get out of such charges here in Qatar."
The case has only came to light this week after the woman's family decided to go public.
Her mother told Dutch news programme EenVandaag that her daughter was going through a "nightmare" ordeal.
On learning that she would be deported, the mother said: "I'm shaking in my legs. I can't believe it. She has been sentenced. I don't know for what but I don't care. This is the best I could have wished for."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Europe's oldest shoes found in Spanish caves
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Artworks stolen by Nazis returned to heirs of cabaret performer
It wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published