After being sentenced to one year in Dubai’s notorious prisons, Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos has her sentence commuted.
The 21 year old is ecstatic to be returning to the US after five months of anguish. Dubai police told her that she would be sent home to the US despite being slapped with a 1 year prison sentence. Elizabeth was then taken for fingerprinting and told to go to the airport where police would meet her and return her passport.
Elizabeth is finally on her way home to New York where her mother eagerly awaits.
WhatsApp exchange between Elizabeth and Radha Stirling - 03 October 2023.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai who represented Elizabeth, issued a statement:
“Elizabeth boarded her flight home to New York late Tuesday night. The news that her sentence would be commuted was a welcome end to Elizabeth’s hellish 5 months in Dubai that left her humiliated, traumatised and out of pocket US$50,000.
“Elizabeth was falsely accused of assaulting and insulting a customs official when she was stripped and humiliated upon entering the desert city during a transit stop.
“The recent high profile cases of Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos and Tierra Allen serve as public media examples of what happens in Dubai on a daily basis. The leadership has spent billions on marketing a glamorous city to international audiences, relying wholly on the naivety of visitors and investors to bring in the dollars.
“At the same time, the leadership has done very little to make the venue safe for the very people they lure in. Tourists are vulnerable to vindictive, false and unevidenced allegations that could leave them languishing in notorious jails. They are vulnerable to extortion schemes like we see from airport staff, rental car agents, taxi drivers and so on. People like social media influencer, Tierra Allen, have taken to warning fellow citizens to avoid Dubai at all costs. Elizabeth has already spent US$50,000 and been sentenced to 1 year in prison. For many tourists, it’s a one way ticket.
“We are of course thankful that Elizabeth is on her way home but is that really a happy ending? She should have been home in May. Instead, she has been left with the scars of an incomprehensibly traumatic experience for a young student, she has lost US$50,000 that she will never be compensated for. Furthermore, she’s been convicted on the basis of mere allegations, sentenced to a year’s prison, fined and deported. That in itself is a disgrace.
“A judge previously ordered she pay a fine of around $2,700 which she did and that could have been the end of it. The customs officers weren’t satisfied though. They appealed the sentence and told her they wanted to see her in jail. The vindictiveness of accusers is largely driven by the likelihood that they will be offered compensation to drop the case. The government of Dubai should forbid workers from accepting compensatory payments as it only encourages workers to make false allegations. Dubai’s justice system is routinely misused to extort victims and it’s about time the US state department updates its travel warnings to reflect this common practice.
“We are thankful to the US Embassy and Congressman Ritchie Torres for their support.