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‘A good day is when I speak to my sons’: An ‘adulterous’ mother speaks from her Dubai prison

Marnie Pearce shuffles into the narrow, glass-fronted booth from where she greets visitors at Dubai’s Al Awir women’s jail.

Ill-fitting, dusty-pink drawstring pants and a matching shirt hang loosely on her gaunt frame – she has lost nearly a stone since being imprisoned for adultery seven weeks ago.

Despite the artful application of make-up, her once glowing complexion is pale and dry. Her face is drawn into a tight mask of despair and her long, blonde hair, which was her crowning glory, reveals prominent dark roots.

The former florist from Berkshire has become an unlikely cause celebre for human rights campaigners – Amnesty International has called for her immediate release – since her dubious conviction under draconian Sharia law.

She was sentenced to six months, cut on appeal to three, after her former husband, an Egyptian, told police she had been having an affair. And Marnie, 40, has clearly been struggling to cope with life behind bars.

Marnie and Ihab on their wedding day. Soon after they married Ihab became violent towards her, subjecting her to ‘years of abuse’
She has not seen her children, Laith, eight, and Ziad, four, since she was locked up.

…

Marnie’s nightmare began on March 27 last year when police raided the family home in a smart suburb of Dubai. They found her inside with Brian Clark, also British, who was visiting from Saudi Arabia.

Marnie was arrested and Ihab, 41, claimed she was having an affair. The family’s Indonesian maid, whose salary he pays, gave supportive evidence.
Under strict Muslim edict, it is unlawful for a woman to be alone in her home with a man, other than her husband or a family member.

The rule is rarely enforced for Westerners. And Marnie certainly hadn’t concerned herself because in the past Ihab had always held liberal views on such matters. She had not counted on him exploiting the system to avoid an expensive Western divorce and custody battle.

‘Ihab set me up,’ Marnie insists, jabbing her finger as she becomes increasingly animated. ‘I did nothing wrong. He bribed the maid to spy on me and then planted used condoms as evidence.’…SOURCE

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Tags: Adultery, Amnesty International, Cause Celebre, Crowning Glory, Dark Roots, Drawstring Pants, Gaunt Frame, Having An Affair, Human Rights Campaigners, Liberal Views, Life Behind Bars, Long Blonde Hair, Narrow Glass, Saudi Arabia, Seven Weeks, Sharia Law, Shuffles, Supportive Evidence, Westerners, Ziad