NinaWorldNews previously reported on a 21-year-old college student from New York City who was sentenced to prison in the United Arab Emirates following an incident at Dubai airport.
Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, a student at Lehman College, had been sentenced to one year in prison after being accused of assaulting and insulting customs officials at Dubai International Airport, according to the advocacy group Detained in Dubai, which supports foreign nationals facing prosecution in the UAE.
De Los Santos’ sentence was later reduced, and she boarded a flight back to New York late Tuesday, the group announced.
“The 21-year-old is thrilled to be returning to the U.S. after five months of distress,” Detained in Dubai stated.
De Los Santos had been held in Dubai since July. While traveling from Istanbul to New York, she had a 10-hour layover in Dubai on July 14.
During security checks, she was asked to remove a medical waist trainer she wore after recent surgery.
According to Detained in Dubai, although De Los Santos complied, she struggled to put it back on and asked for assistance from the female customs officers, but they did not help.
While seeking help from her friend, she “gently touched” one officer’s arm to guide her out of the way of the security curtain.
This led to her detention for touching the officer, and she was made to sign paperwork in Arabic before being allowed to leave the airport.
However, when she returned for her flight, she was informed of a travel ban against her.
On August 24, judges fined her 10,000 dirhams (around $2,700), but the customs officials appealed, and she was sentenced to a year in prison.
Detained in Dubai’s CEO, Radha Stirling, criticized the situation, claiming Dubai authorities were either pressuring her into jail or attempting to coerce her into making a payment.
Stirling also urged the Dubai government to prevent officials from accepting out-of-court settlements in criminal cases.
The U.S. State Department expressed awareness of the situation and indicated they were in communication with De Los Santos and her family, stating they would continue to monitor the case. Dubai authorities have yet to comment.
Detained in Dubai had warned that the appeals process could take months and called for De Los Santos’ immediate release, urging the State Department to update travel warnings to reflect the risks of false allegations and extortion in the UAE. This appeal came after De Los Santos’ mother reached out to the group following a similar case involving Tierra Allen, a Texas resident who was also detained in Dubai for a dispute with a rental car agent.
Allen’s charges were dropped, and she was allowed to return to the U.S. in August.
