A New York City college student has been sentenced to a year in prison by the United Arab Emirates for allegedly “assaulting and insulting” an airport security guard during a flight connection in Dubai over the summer, according to reports.
Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, 21, a student at Lehman College in the Bronx, was sentenced on Monday after spending nearly three months effectively trapped in Dubai with a travel ban issued against her, according to the advocacy group Detained in Dubai.
“Elizabeth only intended to transit through Dubai for six hours but she’s been there for months and has lost $50,000 in expenses and legal fees,” said Detained in Dubai founder Radha Stirling.
“In addition to being humiliated and traumatized by the airport staff, Elizabeth has suffered for several months having to live in an expensive country, pay expensive lawyers and miss out on her university studies.”
Los Santos’ ordeal began on July 14, when he and a friend returned to New York from a vacation in Istanbul.
Their initial itinerary called for them to connect home via Paris, but they changed flights to transfer in Dubai so they could see the famous city during the 10-hour layover.
“We thought it would be a more modern and futuristic city but we were completely wrong,” Los Santos said, according to Detained in Dubai.
Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, 21, is reportedly a student at Lehman College in the Bronx, but she remains in Dubai. Los Santos and his friend had returned from a holiday in Istanbul when he was arrested.
While going through security, Dubai airport staff asked Los Santos to remove the waist compression he had to wear after his recent surgery.
Shown to a private stall, female staff removed the compressor, but the Los Santos mother told Detained in Dubai they were rude and hurt her daughter’s still-healing surgical scar.
They also laughed at him, and when he asked for help to put the elaborate dress back on, they refused.
“I feel uncomfortable and scared. I feel really violated,” said Los Santos.
The compressor has “many, many pins and you have to stretch the edges and clip the little, skinny pins together close to the body,” he said, and as staff continued to ignore his pleas for help, Los Santos leaned past the blocking security guard. his way and called his friend to come and help him.
“I touched his arm gently to guide him out of the way, then desperately started crying to my friend for help,” he told Detained in Dubai.
Los Santos was forced to pay for a hotel in Dubai while the charges against him are pending in a local court.
Los Santos was then held in a room for hours while the security guard he touched filed a complaint against him, and was not allowed to leave until he signed a form written in Arabic.
When he returned to the airport later to catch his flight to New York, he was informed of a travel ban filed against him and had to stay in the country until the charges against him were heard in court.
After he was forced to stay in a hotel for weeks, a judge allowed him to pay 10,000 AED (about $2,700 US) and be on his way, but Dubai prosecutors appealed the decision and he was eventually sentenced to a year in prison on Monday.
“He was under the most incredible stress which affected his physical and mental health, disrupted his entire life and affected his long-term health,” Stirling said. “This is no way to treat visitors. It’s outrageous.”
Los Santos said he was humiliated by airport staff, and called for help when he “gently” touched a security guard.AP
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post, but told Newsweek in a statement Sunday that it was “aware of the arrest of a US citizen in Dubai.”
Lehman College did not respond to a request for comment on Los Santos’ status as a student.
Los Santos isn’t the only American who has recently found himself stuck in Dubai in extreme circumstances.
In August, 29-year-old Tierra Young Allen returned home to Houston after spending months stuck in the country for yelling at rental car clerks.
He was finally allowed to return home after spending about $1,300 to get the travel ban lifted against him.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
