Woman in court for telling airport security her breasts would ‘explode’

A woman who told an airport inspection officer her breasts would explode was obviously joking, the Appeals Court heard on Monday.

ABU DHABI // A woman who told an airport inspection officer her breasts would explode was obviously joking, the Court of Appeal heard on Monday.

R K, from Egypt, was being inspected by a female airport security agent after she had set off the security scanner at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

As the officer was inspecting her breasts, she told her to “be careful or they will explode”.

She said she was joking with the agent and using a common Egyptian metaphor. After she left the room, however, the inspector told a police officer that the woman confessed to hiding explosives in her breasts.

When the woman was arrested and it was discovered that she did not have any explosives she was charged with making a false report.

Her lawyer argued that her client was joking, saying: “They were two women alone in the room and the woman was using Egyptian sense of humour; we all know how Egyptians like to joke.

“She also used a linguistic metaphor commonly used between Egyptians.”

The lawyer added that her client apologised to the agent after making the comment and clarified that she was joking, yet the agent insisted on reporting her.

“Why would she say she had explosives if she did actually have them? And why would she claim she had [explosives] if she did not, when she knows she will be discovered and accused of a false report?”

During proceedings the court heard that the woman had been serving a two-month sentence for an assault.

“The verdict issued was for a totally different offence,” her lawyer said.

The court agreed that the earlier verdict was for an unrelated offence.

A verdict from the Appeals Court will be announced on November 17.