DUBAI // A security guard who was sentenced to three years in jail after being convicted of running a brothel and facilitating prostitution, has had his sentence reduced by the Dubai Court of Appeal.
The Bangladeshi brought two women from Kyrgyzstan last July and prosecutors said that he promised them jobs, although it was not clear how he came to know them.
The women arrived through Dubai International Airport then were taken to a flat in Barsha Heights, where the they claimed they had been locked up and forced to work in a brothel.
One of the women sent her brother a WhatsApp message telling him what had happened and he contacted Kyrgyzstan consulate in Dubai.
When police raided the apartment on July 19, two consular employees were already there.
Police said the defendant was behind a desk in the flat, which had been divided into small bedrooms. Four women were present.
“When I questioned him about the place he said it was a massaging centre,” said an Emirati policeman.
The defendant denied charges of human trafficking and running a brothel in both criminal and appeal courts.
The women, aged 24 and 21, denied a charge of prostitution, saying they were forced to work in the brothel.
The guard was sentenced to three years to be followed by deportation by Dubai Criminal Court but at the appeals, his term was reduced to one year. However he will still be deported after serving his term.
The flat will be shutdown as per a court’s order.
The women were found guilty of willingly working in prostitution and sentenced to six months in jail each to be followed by deportation.
salamir@thenational.ae
