donpizmeov
31st May 2007, 17:06
Desert jailed Aussie hopes for court date
<LI class=byline>By Simon Kirby
May 31, 2007A SYDNEY businessman held in blistering heat in a desert prison in the United Arab Emirates hopes to have charges of sexual harassment and intoxication heard in court on Monday, a spokesman says.
Businessman Jeremy Snaith and another Australian, William Sargent, are in custody facing drug, sexual harassment and intoxication charges, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.
A third Australian, David Evans, has been charged with sexual harassment, indecent exposure and intoxication and released on bail.
Mr Snaith, Mr Evans and Mr Sargent were first-class passengers arrested after getting off an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi on April 27.
A spokesman for Mr Snaith and Mr Evans, who are both directors of Jupiter Mines, said their legal team was expecting to see the prosecution brief later today.
"Hopefully the prosecution brief will be served on us today, so at this stage we believe we will be in court probably Monday," spokesman Sean Mulcahy said from Abu Dhabi.
He has said test results prove the businessmen were not drunk on the flight and suggested Mr Snaith may have fallen foul of strict local drug laws, which prohibit some prescription drugs which are legal in Australia.
But it is understood Etihad staff, including two Arabic women, allege they were groped and one of the men then demanded sex in return for money.
It is also alleged they took off their trousers and underpants, and that one of the men stripped and lay naked on a flat bed, refusing attempts to cover him.
"With regard to any sexual misbehaviour, we flatly deny that," Mr Mulcahy said.
"Obviously once the matter reaches court, anyone who suggests otherwise, (the defence) will vigorously cross-examine."
Sydney lawyer Ross Hill had teamed up with a local solicitor to defend the men, he said.
Mr Mulcahy praised the UAE authorities for doing their best to facilitate the legal process as quickly as possible.
Mr Snaith and Mr Sargent are being held at Al Wathba prison, about 100km out of Abu Dhabi in the desert, where temperatures reach over 50C.
Despite being the only westerner among 150 inmates sharing a cell the size of a tennis court, Mr Snaith was in reasonable spirits, Mr Mulcahy said.
"The prison's not a particularly nice place. The gentlemen are soldiering on and obviously they are very keen to get this matter dealt with," he said.
"There's no suggestion that either gentlemen incarcerated are of poor health – they are being well treated, or I should say not mistreated, by the authorities at Al Wathba prison."
Perhaps the IFE was not working?:=
<LI class=byline>By Simon Kirby
May 31, 2007A SYDNEY businessman held in blistering heat in a desert prison in the United Arab Emirates hopes to have charges of sexual harassment and intoxication heard in court on Monday, a spokesman says.
Businessman Jeremy Snaith and another Australian, William Sargent, are in custody facing drug, sexual harassment and intoxication charges, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.
A third Australian, David Evans, has been charged with sexual harassment, indecent exposure and intoxication and released on bail.
Mr Snaith, Mr Evans and Mr Sargent were first-class passengers arrested after getting off an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi on April 27.
A spokesman for Mr Snaith and Mr Evans, who are both directors of Jupiter Mines, said their legal team was expecting to see the prosecution brief later today.
"Hopefully the prosecution brief will be served on us today, so at this stage we believe we will be in court probably Monday," spokesman Sean Mulcahy said from Abu Dhabi.
He has said test results prove the businessmen were not drunk on the flight and suggested Mr Snaith may have fallen foul of strict local drug laws, which prohibit some prescription drugs which are legal in Australia.
But it is understood Etihad staff, including two Arabic women, allege they were groped and one of the men then demanded sex in return for money.
It is also alleged they took off their trousers and underpants, and that one of the men stripped and lay naked on a flat bed, refusing attempts to cover him.
"With regard to any sexual misbehaviour, we flatly deny that," Mr Mulcahy said.
"Obviously once the matter reaches court, anyone who suggests otherwise, (the defence) will vigorously cross-examine."
Sydney lawyer Ross Hill had teamed up with a local solicitor to defend the men, he said.
Mr Mulcahy praised the UAE authorities for doing their best to facilitate the legal process as quickly as possible.
Mr Snaith and Mr Sargent are being held at Al Wathba prison, about 100km out of Abu Dhabi in the desert, where temperatures reach over 50C.
Despite being the only westerner among 150 inmates sharing a cell the size of a tennis court, Mr Snaith was in reasonable spirits, Mr Mulcahy said.
"The prison's not a particularly nice place. The gentlemen are soldiering on and obviously they are very keen to get this matter dealt with," he said.
"There's no suggestion that either gentlemen incarcerated are of poor health – they are being well treated, or I should say not mistreated, by the authorities at Al Wathba prison."
Perhaps the IFE was not working?:=