Dubai drops charges against rape claimant

Marte Deborah Dalelv said that she was raped in March by a co-worker while on a business trip to Dubai, but was charged with having sex outside marriage after reporting the attack to the police.

After going public with the sentence and her situation in a series of interviews last week, authorities have announced that the charges against her would be dropped, and she is now free to leave the country.

“I am very, very happy,” Marte Deborah Dalelv told news reporters. “I am overjoyed.”

Charges against the 24-year-old stirred widespread outrage in the west and highlighted once again the clash between Dubai’s western-friendly image and its Islamic-based legal codes. The case dominated the front pages in Norway.

“I have my passport back. I am pardoned,” said Ms Dalelv, who worked for an interior design firm in Qatar and was in Dubai for a business meeting when the alleged rape took place.

There was no immediate statement from Dubai officials.

‘She is a free woman again’

In Norway, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide tweeted on hearing the news: “Marte is released! Thanks to everyone who signed up to help.”

Mr Eide told the Norwegian news agency NTB that international media attention and Norway’s diplomatic measures helped Dalelv, who was free on appeal with her next court hearing scheduled for early September.

“The United Arab Emirates and Dubai is a rapidly changing society,” he said. “This decision won’t only affect Marte Dalelv, who can travel home now if she wishes to, but also serve as a wake-up call regarding the legal situation in many other countries.”

That is when I knew: I don’t think they are going to believe me at all – Marte Deborah Dalelv

Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg tweeted: “Happy that Marte has been pardoned and that she is a free woman again.”

Ms Dalelv said she planned to leave the UAE soon, but “first I have to thank some very special people,” including local groups that supported her.

The Norweigan interior designer had been held in prison for four days until contact was made with the Norwegian consulate and bail arranged. Since then she has been staying at a Norwegian-linked aid organisation.

I warmly welcome that Marte Dalelv was pardoned by the Ruler of Dubai today. The fight for human rights for all continues.

— Espen Barth Eide (@EspenBarthEide) July 22, 2013

Glad for at Marte er benådet og at hun igjen er en fri kvinne. Takk til alle som bidro. #ReleaseMarte

— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) July 22, 2013

‘We had a DNA report’

Speaking to journalists last week, Ms Dalelv said that by coming forward she hoped to alert other people not to expect western standards of judicial protection.

“Dubai seems like a Western city, but what a lot of tourists don’t know for example that it’s not legal for them to drink alcohol,” she said.

Ms Dalelv said she did not realise she would be treated as a criminal rather than as a victim, until after she reported the assault and found herself being interrogated at a police station. An officer asked if she was making the rape report because she had not enjoyed sex.

“That is when I knew: I don’t think they are going to believe me at all,” she said. “I am very surprised because we had a DNA report, we had a medical report … and still didn’t believe me.”