A British teenager held in a Dubai prison after having sex with a 17-year-old girl could face 20 years behind bars.
Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, was jailed in the United Arab Emirates during a family holiday.
The 18-year-old was detained and given a one-year sentence after the secret romance with the young woman, now aged 18, he met during a family vacation, according to Detained in Dubai.
Now a lawyer has warned that Marcus’s sentence could be extended up to 20 years as he waits in uncertainty about what will happen to him.
Radha Stirling, the CEO of Detained in Dubai who is speaking on behalf of Marcus’s family, said on X on Friday that he is waiting to see if the prosecution will seek a harsher verdict ‘before deciding to whether to lodge an appeal.’
‘He is grateful for the widespread support and hopes the UK government does more,’ she said.
David Haigh, a human rights lawyer focusing on the Middle East, warned that the maximum penalty for similar cases is 20 years.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The maximum sentence for a case like this is 20 years.
‘It is always seen that the prosecutor really decides the sentence, but this was a low one for them. The worry is that they will not want to let this go and look weak. They may want to show they have fully upheld the law to everyone watching. Marcus will play almost no part in any prosecution appeal.
‘He won’t be allowed to talk or address the judge and everything will be in Arabic anyway. There won’t be a translator. He’ll probably be pushed into court for a minute and then pushed straight out again.’
Marcus has previously told Detained in Dubai, a human rights advocacy group, that him and the girl ‘really liked each other’ as they struck a holiday fling.
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He said: ‘We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict.
‘My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.’
He said previously he is ‘here all alone,’ adding that he prays ‘this nightmare will be over and I’ll be home for Christmas.’
Mr Haigh said the main hope was not that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, would respond to Marcus’s clemency plea, accroding to Mail Online.
After the girl returned home in August, police suddenly turned up at Marcus’s door. He said he was ‘frightened’ while his parents were ‘terrified.’
While the UAE has relaxed some laws in recent years to attract tourists and investment and change its perception abroad, its regulations are based on the Islamic Shariah law.
Sex with anyone who is under the age of 18 is illegal in Dubai.
The UAE has come under pressure from western countries after residents have been detained.
Ryan Cornelius, 70, was detained in 2008 during a layover at Dubai Airport over alleged fraud.
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