ABU DHABI // A man had sex with a Filipina three times while trying to convert her to Islam, a criminal court heard yesterday.
MGG, an Egyptian who lives in Abu Dhabi, appeared before the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance charged with having sex outside of wedlock.
Prosecutors accused him of sleeping three times with a woman from the Philippines, identified as ALK. Both pleaded guilty yesterday.
They were arrested after another Egyptian man reported the incident to police. It was not clear how or where they were arrested.
Chief Justice Saeed Abdul Baseer told the man that because he was Muslim, he faced 100 lashes if he insisted on pleading guilty.
"You have the right to change your plea," the chief justice said.
MGG replied: "No. I insist on my confession."
He then told the justices that he did not plan to have sex with the woman, and that it just happened as he was talking to her about Islam. "I was planning to marry her," MGG told the justices. "I wanted to convert her to Islam."
The chief justice then laughed and asked whether that was a good way to convert someone. MGG replied it was not part of his initial plan.
The judge will issue a verdict on Sunday.
