Woman and driver were not ‘beautifying the sin’, Abu Dhabi court rules

The woman and driver were seen by her husband, whom she was in the process of divorcing, and he attacked her and driver.

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ABU DHABI // A woman and a driver who were alone in a car in public were not committing an offence, the Cassation Court has ruled.

The Emirati woman regularly hired the driver, from an Arab country, to drive her around, the court heard.

On the day of the incident, November 11, she called him to drive her to the Northern Emirates, but he told her his car was undergoing maintenance. She then asked him to drive her own car.

When they returned, they were seen by her husband and three stepsons. The four were accused of attacking them physically, destroying the car, threatening to kill the driver, and insulting their honour in public.

The woman and her husband were in the process of a divorce when the incident took place.

Together with the driver, she was charged with “beautifying the sin”, through staying alone in a closed place without a legal connection between them.

The offence of beautifying a sinful action comes from the UAE penal law, section 5, article 312, paragraph 3, under the title, “Crimes that affect religious beliefs and practices”.

Such offences, if committed in public, are punishable by a minimum one year in jail or a fine. If not in public, they can still bring a fine or jail sentence. The offence is unique to UAE law.

Al Ain First Instance Court found the man and woman guilty of beautifying the sin and sentenced them to Dh5,000 each. The husband and three stepsons were acquitted.

The woman and the driver both appealed against their convictions but the Appeals Court upheld the verdict, and it was taken to the Cassation Court.

Both argued that when they were in the car, the place was well lit and they were visible to the public, which is why the husband and stepsons managed to see them.

This contradicts the characteristics of a “khulwa” – when two unrelated members of the opposite sex are alone in a closed place where they cannot be seen by others.

Therefore, it was argued, the “beautifying the sin” charge did not apply.

In their defence, it was also argued that in Sharia it was better to mistakenly pardon than to mistakenly convict.

The court explained that beautifying the sin was a term applied to actions that contradict religion and ethics, and it does not have a precise text in law, such as a woman being alone with a strange man.

“In Sharia the khulwa between a woman and an unrelated man has been prohibited because it gives way to suspicion, fitna and temptation to sin,” the court said.

“Khulwa requires that they are alone in a place where no one can see them, where they can commit a sin.”

However, the pair were on a public road with shops and traffic, and were visible to anyone passing by.

The Cassation Court decided that since the lower courts convicted them of beautifying the sin without considering their defence, the verdict should be referred back to a different Appeals Court.

hdajani@thenational.ae