Couple await ruling on public kissing appeal

DUBAI // A British couple accused of committing a public sexual act by kissing on the lips will find out in April whether they will be spending a month behind bars. AN, 24, a marketing executive, and CA, a 25-year-old tourist, were convicted in January and sentenced to one month in jail followed by deportation, and fined Dh1,000 for consuming alcohol. The defendants were arrested after an Emirati woman with her family filed a complaint on November 28 claiming that the two had been kissing and touching each other in a sexual manner in front of her children at a diner in Jumeirah Beach Residence. AN and CA both admitted drinking alcohol but denied committing a sexual act, claiming they had kissed each other on the cheek. A Misdemeanours Appeal Court panel said today it would issue a final decision in the case on April 4. The defendants' lawyer, Khalfan al Hosani, told the judges that the 38-year-old Emirati woman - currently the only adult witness in the case - had presented two different testimonies to police and public prosecutors. "The woman your honor has stated to police that she herself saw the couple kissing on the lips while she told prosecutors that her children saw the defendants acting inappropriately, which differs," he said Mr al Hosani told the court there were six more witnesses he would like to call to the stand, if the court saw fit. [e-mail]