A man who secretly filmed a husband and wife through a hole in the wall in their Karama apartment has been jailed for two months and will be deported at the end of his sentence.
The husband told Dubai Criminal Court how he grabbed the man's hand and took his phone when he caught him making the video.
The man and the couple lived in the same apartment, separated by a wooden partition.
“I was with my wife when I felt somebody watching us,” court records showed the husband said.
“I was shocked when I realised the man who lived in the next room was recording us on his mobile phone through a hole in the gypsum wall.
“I grabbed his hand and took away the phone before calling the police.”
Sharing apartments is illegal in the UAE, but the couple said they could not afford their own home.
The police did not reveal if any action was taken against the landlord or tenants for sub-leasing the flat.
Officials arrived at the apartment after midnight and arrested the man who admitted to recording the couple for 25 seconds. The husband gave the phone to the officer.
“I tried to have a look through a hole in the wooden partition that separates the rooms and recorded them for 25 seconds using my mobile phone,” court records showed the man said.
He asked for mercy after he was found guilty of breaching the privacy of the couple.
The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days.
