In a recent event, Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, a college student from New York City, who was sentenced to one year in prison by the United Arab Emirates for allegedly “assaulting and insulting” an airport security guard during a flight connection in Dubai, was released.
According to the advocacy group Detained in Dubai, Dubai police warned the 21-year-old Lehman College student that she will be deported to the United States despite receiving a one-year prison sentence.
Los Santos was told to go to the airport after her fingerprints were taken, where she would be met by police who would return her passport. She has finally returned home after being stuck in Dubai for months owing to a travel ban for touching a guard, according to Detained in Dubai.
The CEO of Detained in Dubai, Radha Stirling, who defended Los Santos and brought her tale to light, shared a WhatsApp chat in which Los Santos told her she was being allowed to return home.Stirling referred to it as “a very welcome diplomatic move.”
She said in a statement, “Elizabeth boarded her flight home to New York late Tuesday night. The news that her sentence would be commuted was a welcome end to Elizabeth’s hellish 5 months in Dubai that left her humiliated, traumatized, and out of pocket with US$50,000.”
She went on to explain the frequency of events in the renowned city. Stirling stated that recent high-profile incidents with Tierra Allen and Los Santos are good examples of what happens in Dubai on a daily basis for the general public.
According to her, the city’s government spends billions advertising the city to global audiences while ignoring enhancing the venue’s safety for the very people it attracts.
She claims that tourists are regularly the target of malicious, misleading, and unsubstantiated charges that could land them in prison. They are also vulnerable to extortion techniques used by airport employees, vehicle rental agency, taxi drivers, and others.
Los Santos has been sentenced to one year in prison and has already spent $50,000. For many tourists, it’s a one-way ticket, according to Stirling.
“We are of course thankful that Elizabeth is on her way home but is that really a happy ending? She should have been home in May. Instead, she has been left with the scars of an incomprehensibly traumatic experience for a young student; she has lost US$50,000 that she will never be compensated for. Furthermore, she’s been convicted on the basis of mere allegations, sentenced to a year’s prison, fined, and deported. That in itself is a disgrace,” Stirling expressed.
She advocated for reform in the system of workers receiving compensation since it causes problems like these. According to Stirling, accusers’ vengeance is frequently driven by the potential of earning cash if the case is dismissed.
In Los Santos’ case, a judge ordered her to pay a $2,700 fine, which she paid, and that could have been the end of it, but customs authorities appealed the judgement and told her they wanted to put her in jail because they were unhappy with the judge’s decision.
“The government of Dubai should forbid workers from accepting compensatory payments, as it only encourages workers to make false allegations. Dubai’s justice system is routinely misused to extort victims and it’s about time the US State Department updates its travel warnings to reflect this common practice,” she stated.