Marcus Fakana sentenced to a year in prison

[Zippedydodah]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles]]]]
I cannot believe that this lad is going to spend a year in prison- yes, I know that’s the law there, he should have known better etc, etc
I hope that the girl’s mother is ashamed of her actions.
I don’t want to think what the impact will be on Marcus 😥

In most countries,its,more nuanced than that though
So.in the,UK whilst the minimum age of consent is 16 if the sex,was,consensual the police,won't be interested in prosecuting Someone for having sex,with a,minor when there is,a,matter of months,between them
The.law,is,to protect people from being abused not to punish Randy teens

What people are saying is that the consequences are disproportionate to the crime in this case, particularly considering the undertones of racism. It’s not a black and white issue and you seem to be disregarding all complexities and nuance.

From a Western perspective yes. Not from an Emirati perspective which is where he broke the law.

Well yes - hence this discussion.

Why ?

It’s an interesting thread though, it reminds me of the arguments of Ancient Greek philosophers. Individualism versus the rule of law. I’d be supping hemlock with Socrates but it’s interesting to see the emotive arguments put forward for the other side.

What a shame the age of consent in UK isnt 18.

I think it would be unrealistically old, but I'd support it being 18 if the other person was more than x years older. So eg no more than two or three years older partner when you're 16/17.

That would hopefully help keep young people from being exploited, but no ridiculous situations like the Dubai one where he was literally just a couple of months older.

I am sure you would feel differently if it was your young family member being incarcerated in a Dubai prison for a year.

Do we know the mother did this just because he was black? Genuine question, just I haven't read any evidence of this so if there is something I'd be interested to hear - wasn't he initially described in the conviction as Pakistani, not black? People have said the girl and family are Asian (Indian?), many such cultures have very strict attitudes on sex especially when it concerns their daughters. I'm not convinced she wouldn't have acted the same way had he been white, Asian, east Asian etc. Horrible thing to do either way, and she's clearly a vile person.

Well yes but that's why juries aren't filled with family members and friends.

The photos allegedly of the mother and daughter look like they're from security cameras or similar in an airport or station. Where have the photos come from?

This isn’t a jury, this is a discussion forum.

I wouldn’t take my children to Dubai.

So are you saying it's immoral for a country to have a minimum age for consent?
I don't like or agree with what has happened to this poor young man but I do think countries have the right to set a minimum age for consent and have that respected by foreign tourists. What a pity that this particular law isn't more widely publicised.

I'm saying when the ages are so very close to each other and the age of consent and both are consenting, then it is morally wrong to hold the slightly older party to be totally responsible, yes. aka an official or unofficial Romeo and Juliet clause.

Yes and I am able to remain objective and unemotional as I don't know the man who broke the law,

Don’t you feel empathy for anyone you don’t know? So you read and watch the news and feel nothing? How bizarre.

Interesting. Wonder who leaked them, wherever the photos are from.

Yes we do.

Or no, we have not had the mother tell us but we are not stupid and it is fairly obvious.

He was put down as Pakistani by the Dubai authorities (“allegedly” to ensure he was treated worse) but he has never been Pakistani.

He is black, and she is British Indian. Their relationship was perfectly fine in their country of birth / residence and they are only a couple months apart. With that information it’s not that big of a leap to say the mother objected to his race.

I’d like to think not. Obviously I’d be gutted for them. I’m hoping they grow up to be law abiding.

I have very mixed feelings on this.

On the one hand I feel very sorry for Marcus and his family, and I think the mother was v unreasonable. I feel sorry for the girl in this case too.

On the other hand, it's important to respect the laws of the country you are in and I don't think Dubai have done anything wrong. They are entitled to make their own laws on the age of consent.

In the UK age of consent is 16, but in some countries it's 13 and others even 12. If an 18 year old from one of those countries had sex with a 13 year old here, we would expect the law to be upheld, even if the man was genuinely ignorant of the law in our country.

Every country has different laws and while I sympathise with Marcus, he is unfortunately facing the consequences of not being aware of the laws of the country he was visiting.

We must respect the law of each country we visit. It's for this reason I have not visited North Korea (I don't understand the laws there and know they r very strict and I may make mistakes). If I ever do visit Dubai I will make damn sure me and my children are fully aware of all the laws we think may apply to us. Regarding my children I will make sure they know the laws around consent, alcohol use, drugs etc.. and that they know the consequences of laws being broken in Dubai. We will also be aware of the risks and that we may not know all the laws and the risks involved in this.

I can feel sorry for people, but also understand that if they break the law they face the consequences and learn a hard lesson from it. It's one year in jail, it's not like he's getting his parts chopped off.

And,how,would you police it?