Originally published 2021-04-07.
In early April 2021, Dubai police detained a group of women who had posed naked on a high-rise balcony while being photographed, after a picture and video of the shoot spread across social media. Twelve people were charged: eleven Ukrainian women and a Russian man. Within days, Dubai's attorney general announced that they would not stand trial but would be deported to their home countries instead, an unusual outcome in the emirate. Here is what happened, what the charges meant, and what the case shows about the gap between Dubai's glossy image and its decency laws.
What happened on the balcony
The images showed a line of women without clothes on a balcony in a residential tower, visible from neighbouring buildings and the street. Once the footage went viral, police traced the location and arrested those involved. Early reports, many relying on Russian media, gave differing accounts of the women's nationalities, mentioning Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. Ukrainian and Russian officials later confirmed the arrests of their citizens, and Dubai's prosecutors described the women as Ukrainian.
The man arrested was a Russian citizen. Some outlets named him and described him as the photographer or as a sponsor of the shoot; the Russian tabloid Life identified him as the head of an IT company in the Ivanovo region, a link the company denied. Dubai police themselves declined to publish names, so details about who organised the shoot remain unconfirmed. Speculation at the time that the whole thing was a publicity stunt was never established.
The charges and possible penalties
Prosecutors charged the group with public debauchery and with producing pornographic material. According to the Associated Press, nudity and "lewd behaviour" in public could bring up to six months in prison and a fine of 5,000 dirhams, about 1,360 US dollars. Sharing pornographic content carries further prison terms and heavy fines under the UAE's cybercrime rules.
Dubai police issued a warning against such conduct. In a statement widely quoted by international media at the time, they said:
"Such unacceptable behaviours do not reflect the values and ethics of Emirati society."
Police also reminded residents and visitors that creating or sharing indecent images online is itself an offence, regardless of where the original act took place.
Deportation instead of trial
On 7 April 2021, Dubai's Attorney General, Essam Issa al-Humaidan, announced that the public prosecutor had ordered those involved to be deported "for their behaviour contrary to public morals". Foreigners charged with crimes in Dubai are rarely sent home before a trial and any sentence, so the decision was noted as a departure from the usual practice.
The timing was sensitive. The case broke days before Ramadan, and in Russia the Ivanovo governor publicly asked the foreign ministry to support the detained man. A quick deportation allowed the authorities to make their point without a drawn-out trial involving foreign nationals.
How UAE decency laws work
The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates. Its legal system combines codified federal laws, the laws of individual emirates and principles drawn from Islamic law. Foreigners make up around 90% of the population, and the rules apply to residents and tourists alike.
In November 2020, a few months before this case, the UAE announced a major overhaul of personal-status and criminal laws. Among the changes reported at the time: unmarried couples were allowed to live together, penalties for drinking or keeping alcohol without a licence were dropped for adults aged 21 and over, tougher punishments were promised for harassing women, and so-called honour crimes lost their lenient treatment. A new Federal Crimes and Penalties Law was issued in 2021 and took effect in January 2022.
Public decency rules remained in place. Public nudity, obscene gestures, overt displays of affection and indecent content online can still lead to fines, jail or deportation. On same-sex relations, the advocacy group Human Dignity Trust says that federal and emirate-level laws still criminalise them, with prison terms possible. It adds that Sharia law could in theory allow the death penalty, but that there is no evidence it has ever been used against LGBT people. Earlier claims that homosexuality is "punishable by death" in practice go further than the evidence supports.
Other cases that made headlines
The balcony shoot was not the first time foreigners fell foul of these laws, often over things that would be legal at home:
- Laleh Shahravesh (2019). A British mother was arrested at Dubai airport in March 2019 over Facebook posts written in 2016, in which she called her late ex-husband's new wife a "horse". She faced a possible two-year sentence under cybercrime law, but a Dubai court fined her 3,000 dirhams in April 2019 and she returned to the UK.
- Jordan Branford (2017). According to the campaign group Detained in Dubai, an American fitness instructor living in Dubai was fined 250,000 dirhams, about 68,000 dollars, in 2017 after his estranged wife complained about an Instagram story that used a crude word without naming anyone. Unable to pay, he was reportedly barred from leaving the country for many months. The account comes from the group representing him.
Many websites with adult content are also blocked in the UAE, and the country regulates online speech much more tightly than most Western states.
Practical advice for visitors
- Check official guidance before you travel. Your government's travel advice page for the UAE lists current laws on dress, alcohol, medicines and online posts.
- Treat social media as public. Posts, comments and private messages can be used as evidence, including old ones written abroad.
- Keep beachwear for beaches and pools. Swimwear is normal at hotels and beaches, but covering up in malls and public streets is expected.
- Be careful with photos. Photographing people without permission, especially women, or filming government buildings can cause legal trouble.
- Know who to call. If you are detained, ask to contact your embassy or consulate straight away.
The 2021 balcony case ended with a flight home rather than a prison sentence, but it showed how quickly a viral image can become a criminal matter in a place where public morality is written into law.
Sources: Euronews / AP, 7 April 2021; Al Jazeera / AP, November 2020 law changes; Human Dignity Trust: United Arab Emirates; Euronews, April 2019; Detained in Dubai; via The Mind Unleashed.
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