If Westerners want to avoid prison time in Arab or Muslim nations, they should refrain from having sex in public — especially after being warned to stop by the police prior to their arrest.  That’s the real lesson from Michelle Palmer’s tribulations, and even she realizes that much — now.  However, the potential for a lengthy prison sentence, perhaps as long as six years, has her hoping for international pressure to get her released:

It was last Friday when police caught Miss Palmer and Mr Acors having sex on a beach popular with expats and holidaymakers.

They had met hours earlier at a champagne brunch at Le Meridien Hotel where Miss Palmer got extremely drunk before going for a walk along the shore with her companion.

A police officer later spotted the pair having sex on the sand and let them off with a caution but the pair ignored the warning and were arrested when the officer returned to the scene.

According to police sources, Miss Palmer, originally from Oakham, Leicester, launched an angry tirade at the officer upon being disturbed for a second time.

She is alleged to have hurled abuse and tried to hit him with her high-heeled shoe before being restrained and taken to a cell.

Does six years seem excessive? Yes, but then again, Dubai isn’t the US or the UK.  I’m surprised the policeman let them off with a warning the first time, and the alleged assault would have any jurisdiction looking to teach a perpetrator a lesson.

Dubai has a reputation as a party town for Westerners, and perhaps that plays into this case.  The authorities may want to send a message to the non-Muslims who make a habit of participating in alcohol-fueled mischief in their city.   In a land where “rude gestures” on the highway could lead to a jail sentence and the law insists on “modesty” from both men and women, doing the nasty on a public beach is almost guaranteed to garner severe punishment.

The lesson?  Don’t drink to excess in Muslim countries, or one could wake up with a six-year hangover.  I suspect in the end that Dubai will deport Palmer after a few months, if for no other reason than to maintain friendly relations with the UK.