By Philip Delves Broughton in Paris
(Filed: 03/01/2003)


A businesswoman who accused three men of gang rape has been arrested in Dubai and faces trial on charges of adultery.

Touria Tiouli, 39, from Limoges, in France, has had her passport confiscated and cannot leave Dubai after being charged under the emirate's Sharia law.

This declares any sexual relationship outside marriage to be illegal.

Mme Tiouli was on a business trip last October when, she alleges, she was raped by three men who offered her a lift home from a nightclub.

She reported the attack immediately to the Dubai police, who after investigating her claim arrested her rather than those she accused.

One of the men admitted to having "consensual sex" with Mme Tiouli, which made her, in the eyes of Dubai's judiciary, guilty of both adultery and making a false rape accusation. She could face up to 18 months in prison. None of the men has been charged.

Mme Tiouli was held in prison for five days and has since been staying at a hotel.

The government has taken her passport and refused to let her leave the country until her trial, which has not yet been scheduled.

Friends in Limoges issued a statement from Mme Tiouli yesterday. It said that when she reported her rape to the police, "I was crying and I saw quickly that my story did not carry any weight with them."

She added: "I am frightened and I am not sleeping." Her 14-year-old son is staying with friends in France.

Mme Tiouli, who is divorced, was born in Morocco but moved to France as a child and is a French citizen.

This was her third visit to Dubai, where she worked on behalf of French luxury goods companies establishing links in the local market and dealing with the French consulate.

When she reported her attack to the police, she believed her status as a French citizen with close ties to the consulate would lead to her being taken seriously.

Sharia law is applied with varying severity in many Muslim countries. In Nigeria, adultery is punishable by stoning to death, while in Dubai a prison sentence is usual.

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