This British man sounds like a drunk, obnoxious creep, but in any case his obnoxiousness doesn’t justify his arrest and jailing for violating Sharia prohibitions. If he had been arrested for damaging the cab, that would have been fine. But instead, the arrestable offense seems to have been that he was drinking during Ramadan, a provision of Islamic law to which only Islamic supremacists believe non-Muslims are bound. The principle always holds true: in Muslim countries, non-Muslims must conform their behavior to Islamic sensibilities. In non-Muslim countries, non-Muslims must conform their behavior to Islamic sensibilities.
“British visitor jailed in Dubai for drinking during Ramadan,” by Neil Halligan, ArabianBusiness.com, July 24, 2014 (thanks to Twostellas):
A British man was jailed for one month for drinking alcohol in Ramadan, and fined $544 (AED2,000) for denting the bonnet of a taxi, Gulf News reports.
The 51-year-old visitor got into the taxi on Sheikh Zayed Road on July 5 and asked to be brought to a five-star hotel near Dubai Creek.
The Bangladeshi driver said he brought the man to the hotel, but the defendant then became angry when he was asked for an increased fare.
“When I reached the hotel, the defendant was asleep on the back seat. I woke him up and told him that he had reached his destination… he then told me to drop him somewhere else.
“Although the meter read AED4.5 I asked him for AED10 considering that it’s the minimum fare. He got angry and pounded his hand on the hood six times and dented it,” the driver told prosecutors.
Police arrived on the scene at 2am and the Briton was taken into custody after it was discovered he was drunk.
The defendant was charged with drinking alcohol and causing damage to the taxi and he entered a guilty plea when he appeared in court on Tuesday.
Explaining his side of events, the defendant said that he got into the taxi in Bur Dubai and became angry when the taxi driver asked for more money.
“I asked the driver to drop me at a certain hotel… then I remembered that I was not staying at that hotel so I asked him to change his route to another hotel close by.
“When he asked me for extra money, I got angry. I hit the bonnet of his car with my fist and dented it. Police arrived at the scene shortly after he called them. Then they took me into custody and sent me for a liquor test… I had consumed beer,” said the Briton.
The defendant paid for the damage to the bonnet and so obtained a waiver from the taxi operator.
He was taken into custody immediately after the ruling was pronounced.