THE TELEGRAPH: A British expatriate in Dubai is facing jail and deportation after being accused of making a single-finger gesture in an argument.
Simon Andrews, 56, has had his passport confiscated for almost eight months while waiting for his case to be heard.
He told Dubai Court of Misdemeanours he denies "flipping the finger" at Mahmoud Rasheed, an Iraqi aviation student, during an argument.
He will appear in court on Sunday for a full hearing of the case.
It is the latest in a string of prosecutions of expatriates and visitors in Dubai for breaching the emirate's public decency laws.
Making insulting gestures is regarded as unacceptable, and carries with it the possibility of a jail sentence of up to six months and deportation.
An Australian nurse working in a hospital in Dubai was last year jailed for a month and deported after serving 24 days after admitting raising his middle finger to a driver who he said was driving erratically while talking on his mobile phone.
The driver turned out to be an off-duty army officer who followed him home and reported him to police. >>> Richard Spencer in Dubai | Monday, March 29, 2010
