Nude Victoria Beckham Sends Dubai Tourist to Jail
June 30, 2009
Remember folks: nudity of any kind, including t-shirts depicting near-nudity by a famous designer, is illegal in Dubai. Last week, Lebanese tourist Raffi Nernekian was visiting the emirate and went for a little stroll down the street sporting the Victoria Beckham version of the naked celebrity t-shirt campaign "Protect the Skin You're In." Designed by Marc Jacobs and featuring several different celebs, the t-shirt in question featured a nude Victoria with lettering strategically placed to cover up anything really indecent. The shirts were part of a 2008 cancer awareness campaign with proceeds benefitting the NYU School of Medicine Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group.
Nernekian was confronted by a local at a bakery who was offended by his garb. When he returned to the bakery after changing his clothes (!) the police were waiting for him. The poor cancer-cure supporter was hauled off to a Dubai jail to serve out his monthlong sentence, after which he will be deported directly back to Lebanon.
Comments (5)
Posted by YingoFar on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 07.37 pm
If Dubai does not take some responsibliity for helping to educate visiting tourist about their strange laws then there will be more tourist sitting in Dubai’s jails than tourists in their Hotels.
Prescriptions drugs like painkillers - gets you up to 4 years in prison.
Poppy seeds off a bread roll - up to 4 years in prison
They even promote Romantic holidays, even though it is illegal to hug,kiss or show affection in the streets, its illegal for a male and female to sleep in the same if they are not married.
Does’nt sound very romantic to me unless you want to spend a few years in a dingy Dubai cell having sex with some crook or heroine addict called Abdul.
Posted by George on Sat Jul 11, 2009 at 07.01 pm
I’ve read that in Dubai foreign workers have no rights and are treated no better than slaves. Yet, if a person wears an article of clothing deemed “offensive”, off to jail they go.
This is not to generalize about Muslim societies. Both Turkey and Indonesia are democracies with respect for freedom. But, in the Gulfs States, not so much..
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20050919135817472
Posted by beaker on Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 04.25 pm
Strange how a simple teeshirt OFFENDS the loclas, YET when THEY come to OUR countries and wear their ‘offensive’ garb - their veils over their faces, WE have to put up with it or THEY complain about loss of ‘human rights’ Where are OUR human rights in THEIR country?
Posted by sarababe on Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 10.19 pm
Life is too short to wear clothes the whole time!
I run around naked and I vote!
Ask me about going naked
Don’t be clothes-minded - take them off
No body needs clothes
Every body should be naked
Nude is normal
Like your body? Show it!
Who says there’s anything wrong with skin?
Skinful isn’t sinful
Turn life skin-side out - go naked
It’s time to turn your life skin-side out
Get a whole nude attitude!
Nude is normal
Like your body? Show it!
Who says there’s anything wrong with skin?
Skinful isn’t sinful
Turn life skin-side out - go naked
It’s time to turn your life skin-side out
Enjoy our clothing free lifestyle!
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Posted by Mikha on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 11.41 am
Raffi Nernekian was not some oblivious tourist. He used to LIVE and WORK in Dubai. He has no excuse for not knowing the local customs and traditions.