Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Watch what you wear


A range of popular T-shirts that sold out in Dubai could land you six months behind bars if you wear one, 7 DAYS can reveal. The gents' garment has an offensive four-letter word printed on the front, in bright yellow.

The slogan reads: '**** fashion, go punk' and was printed across T-shirts being sold by clothing store Vero Moda.Police have warned people to be careful when buying clothes with images and slogans on, in case they cause offence to certain religions and cultures.A CID officer with Dubai Police said anyone caught wearing such a T-shirt could be arrested and referred to court. He told 7DAYS: "It is an indecent act and we would warn the person who wears it and the shop which sells it. If the person is caught wearing it a second time we would punish them by referring them to the court to decide the penalty."Legal researcher Hani Hammouda, of Bin Haider Advocate and Legal Consultants, agreed that anyone wearing indecent clothes should be wary as they could be punished with a jail sentence. He said: "According to the law, the penalty can be six months in jail. If a shop owner sells indecent clothes in public then his charge is 'incitement to debauchery' and the penalty is either a maximum of six months in jail, a dhs5,000 fine, or both."A spokeswoman for Vero Moda told 7DAYS: "If there is any complaint regarding an item of clothing we will remove it from the shelves. We do try to check every item before displaying them but we get so many and perhaps this T-shirt was not checked.

The T-shirt is now all sold-out," she added.The Dubai Court of First Instance recently sentenced two Syrian men to two months in jail for wearing offensive T-shirts.The men were riding a motorbike when they were involved in an accident and taken to Rashid Hospital in Dubai. Staff there noticed the offensive shirts - which displayed an obscene image - under the mens' jackets and complained to the police. An investigation was carried out and the men were referred to public prosecution. They were eventually found guilty in court and jailed.

By Ali Al-Shouk and Paul McLennan

7 comments:

Kinano said...

Will it ever end!??!?!?

Ri said...

Soon, they'll ban T-shirts altogether and we'll all have to wear disdashas. Girls included.

Anonymous said...

Now how very Kuwait is that?!
To my mind, Dubai has always been huge on immorality - some would even argue, immorality keeps the home fires burning for a significant proportion of citizens and residents of Dubai. So this comes as a rude shock to those of us accustomed to seeing the loose way of life in Dubai.

Lala* said...

zain esawo0n feehom!

Anonymous said...

Now I am beginning to understand why the authorities in Dubai were reticent to grant us license for marketing designer wear - "Nothing to Wear" and " Hanky Panky " for the Dubai market. It's a different story that a seemingly ultra conservative Kuwait which is more mature and fashion forward than the UAE is, has taken an intense liking to both these brands.

Anonymous said...

In a place full of Eastern European prostitutes, I hope the Dubai authorities understand irony.

Anonymous said...

u can get prosecuted for wearing those??? WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! man, id understand if i were wearing a shirt with a penis or something on it, but this is just humorous! hahahaha... they should put their effort into cracking down on all the prostitutes first then worry about 'rebellious' tshirts