Jess Battison
There are strict laws around having sex in Dubai, as a British teen ended up in jail.
Marcus Fakana is currently pleading with the ruling Sheikh, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to release him early after he was sentenced to a year in December.
Currently 19 years old, the Londoner was 18 when he engaged in a consensual relationship with a 17-year-old British girl while on holiday in the Middle East with his family.
The group supporting him says he is ‘struggling’ and that he is ‘barely an adult’ and ‘never intended to break any law’.
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“What happened was legal in the UK and consensual. But now he is facing permanent damage to his mental health and future prospects because of it,” Rasha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai, said.
Fakana’s arrest came after the girl’s mother saw messages between the two after returning to the UK. She then reported him to authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
At the time, the teen said he ‘couldn’t imagine what’ police wanted to question him for when they showed up at his hotel door. While it may have been legal at home, the differing laws in Dubai meant Fakana could be prosecuted.
The government’s foreign travel advice for the UAE explains: “If a person aged 18 or over has a sexual relationship with a person aged 17 or under, they will be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor.”
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Fakana was facing 20 years in prison before he was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment.
Stirling said at the time: “This is clearly a very strict mother to involve police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where the children have grown up.
“Perhaps she wasn’t aware that she triggered the possibility of a young man of only 18 spending the next 20 years in prison.”
Both Fakana’s family and Detained in Dubai are warning others of the risks young Brits face when they visit countries with different and strict legal systems.
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“Parents need to be aware that teens can be charged in the UAE for behaviour that would not be considered criminal at home, whether that’s a relationship, social media activity, or even drinking alcohol,” Stirling said.
As they call for clemency for the teen, the group stresses that he ‘fully respects the laws of the UAE’.
“He only hopes the government will show compassion and allow him to return home to rebuild his life,” Stirling added. “He’s very young and this is a heartbreaking way to begin adulthood.”
A FCDO spokesperson told the LADbible Group: “We are supporting a British man in the UAE and are in contact with his family.”