Student freed from Dubai prison after being jailed following strip search
A 21-year-old student is 'ecstatic' after been freed from one of Dubai's most notorious prisons after having her sentence commuted.
Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos was sentenced to a year behind bars after allegedly faced degrading and invasive searches by airport staff. Elizabeth, who wears a medical waist trainer suit due to medical reasons, was told to remove the garment by security officer. She was accused of "assaulting and insulting" the female customs officer, which she vehemently denied.
However she is now returning to her home in New York after five months of anguish.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai who represented Elizabeth, said in a statement this evening: “Elizabeth boarded her flight home to New York late Tuesday night. The news that her sentence would be commuted was a welcome end to Elizabeth’s hellish 5 months in Dubai that left her humiliated, traumatised and out of pocket US$50,000.
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Los Santos has been sentenced to one year in prison (Supplied)“Elizabeth was falsely accused of assaulting and insulting a customs official when she was stripped and humiliated upon entering the desert city during a transit stop.
“The recent high profile cases of Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos and Tierra Allen serve as public media examples of what happens in Dubai on a daily basis. The leadership has spent billions on marketing a glamorous city to international audiences, relying wholly on the naivety of visitors and investors to bring in the dollars.
“At the same time, the leadership has done very little to make the venue safe for the very people they lure in. Tourists are vulnerable to vindictive, false and unevidenced allegations that could leave them languishing in notorious jails. They are vulnerable to extortion schemes like we see from airport staff, rental car agents, taxi drivers and so on. People like social media influencer, Tierra Allen, have taken to warning fellow citizens to avoid Dubai at all costs. Elizabeth has already spent US$50,000 and been sentenced to 1 year in prison. For many tourists, it’s a one way ticket.
(Detained in Dubai / SWNS)
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“We are of course thankful that Elizabeth is on her way home but is that really a happy ending? She should have been home in May. Instead, she has been left with the scars of an incomprehensibly traumatic experience for a young student, she has lost US$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. That in itself is a disgrace.
“A judge previously ordered she pay a fine of around $2,700 which she did and that could have been the end of it. The customs officers weren’t satisfied though. They appealed the sentence and told her they wanted to see her in jail. The vindictiveness of accusers is largely driven by the likelihood that they will be offered compensation to drop the case. The government of Dubai should forbid workers from accepting compensatory payments as it only encourages workers to make false allegations. Dubai’s justice system is routinely misused to extort victims and it’s about time the US state department updates its travel warnings to reflect this common practice.We are thankful to the US Embassy and Congressman Ritchie Torres for their support."
Elizabeth was only intending to transit through Dubai for six hours on her way from Istanbul to New York when the incident happened. She claims she faced degrading and invasive searches by airport staff. She claims she felt violated and uncomfortable during the search, during which she was ushered into a booth with plain-clothed women in local dress.
Despite her pleas for assistance, she was met with laughter and stares. Struggling with the intricate pins and fastenings of her waist trainer, Elizabeth was left half-naked, humiliated, and in a state of panic. Eventually, a male officer allowed her friend to help her dress, but the nightmare did not end there.
Following the search, Elizabeth was accused of "assaulting and insulting" the female customs officer, a claim she vehemently denied. Despite her apologies and emotional distress, she was detained in a room for several more hours. Forced to sign paperwork in Arabic, she was allowed to leave the airport but was shocked to learn about a travel ban imposed on her
Subsequently, Elizabeth faced an arduous legal battle in Dubai, leading to a one-year prison sentence. The situation prompted outrage and calls for increased travel warnings to US citizens visiting the UAE. Detained in Dubai, an advocacy organization is now mobilizing support, urging diplomatic efforts to secure Elizabeth's freedom.
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