Roxanne Hillier, a 22 year old South African Expat, has been jailed for 3 months in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly having sex with her employer, a 41 year old Emirati.
She was jailed without any proof that they did indeed have sex. Part of the sentence is for "being alone with a non-relative." I do not know all the minor details about this case so I can’t really comment too much on this.
I can go into a rant on how completely stupid such laws are and how repressive it is etc. I could probably write a whole book about it.
The fact however remain, we as SAFFAS should take care when we visit or move to foreign countries. The culture and laws are different and sometimes the justice system is not in your favor. We should therefore take care to educate ourselves about what the culture and laws of the country that we are going to visit is. We should take care to obey such laws, even if you find them strange or stupid.
If you don’t, expect problems.
Anyway, my thoughts are with the Hillier family and I wish Roxanne all the best during this ordeal.
