Dubai A saleswoman won her appeal and was cleared of stealing four bras from the store where she worked after her lawyer argued that she had been tricked by her boss into confessing.
In February, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the 29-year-old Filipina saleswoman for three months, convicting her of stealing four bras, worth Dh200, from her workplace in August.
The Filipina challenged her three-month jail term before the Dubai Appeal Court and pleaded not guilty.
Her lawyer, Faisal Al Zarouni, argued before the appellate court that her employer had lured her into confessing. “My client was told by her boss that she would not lose her job if she admitted before the police and prosecutors that she stole the bras. She is innocent and did not commit any wrongdoing … she was prompted to confess to something that she had not done. She did not even take the bras out of the store,” said the defence attorney.
On Wednesday, presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm overturned the three-month imprisonment and acquitted the Filipina.
Her deportation order was also cancelled as per Wednesday’s ruling.
When she appeared in court, the 29-year-old denied having hidden the bras in a nylon bag that she forgot behind when she left for her house after work.
Al Zarouni also argued before the court that law enforcement procedures were carried out improperly against his client, who was questioned in the absence of a translator.
The salesman called up her colleague at work to inform her that she would pick up the bag later, according to records, before the colleague discovered that the bag contained the bras.
In his defence argument, Al Zarouni added four bras were not taken out of the shop; they were handed over to the police station.
A Syrian employee from the company that operates the shop testified that the bar codes had not been removed from the bras when they were found in the bag.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
