A 21-year-old American college student, who was sentenced to one year in a Dubai prison over an airport altercation, has been released, a legal assistance group said.
Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos was transiting through Dubai International Airport from Istanbul to New York with a friend in July when she faced “degrading, painful, and humiliating searches” and was “denied boarding,” Detained in Dubai, an organization that provides legal assistance to foreigners in the United Arab Emirates, said in a press release.
Elizabeth and her friend opted to have a layover in the Emirate instead of Paris.
“Elizabeth only intended to transit through Dubai for six hours, but she’s been there for months on end and has lost $50,000 in expenses and lawyer’s costs,” Detained CEO Radha Stirling said in a previous statement. “She’s now been told she has a one-year prison sentence but that if all ‘goes well, she will only be detained until she can book a flight out of the UAE.”
Now, one day after the student was ordered to be jailed, her sentence has been commuted, the organization said.
“The news that her sentence would be commuted was a welcome end to Elizabeth’s hellish 5 months in Dubai that left her humiliated, traumatized and out of pocket $50,000,” Stirling said in a press release on Tuesday, adding that the student boarded a plane to New York Tuesday night.
Authorities told Elizabeth to remove the doctor-mandated waist-training brace she wore while going through airport security. She hesitantly agreed and was led to a booth where women security officers took the trainer off in a “rough” manner, according to the press release.
“I felt really violated,” the student said, adding that she was “uncomfortable and afraid.”
Polanco De Los Santos tried putting her trainer back on, which usually requires two people, and asked for help. The security officers blocked her exit, and that’s when they say she nudged one of them while calling her friend for help.
“I gently touched her arm to guide her out of the way, then desperately started crying to my friend for help,” the 21-year-old said.
After the search came back clear, officials told her she would be detained for “touching the female customs officer.” She was kept for several hours as the officers filed a complaint, accusing Polanco De Los Santos of “assaulting and insulting” them.
“She has been left with the scars of an incomprehensibly traumatic experience for a young student, she has lost $50,000 that she will never be compensated for. Furthermore, she’s been convicted on the basis of mere allegations, sentenced to a year’s prison, fined and deported,” Stirling said. “That in itself is a disgrace.”
According to the Insider, the reason for Polanco De Los Santos’ release remains unclear but Stirling believes it was the result of backlash from the media and US Embassy.
“In high-profile cases like this, they just want to quickly close the case as soon as possible,” she said.
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