Her case had caused in the Western world for terror: Marte Deborah Dalelv was sentenced to 16 months in prison in Dubai after she had shown her own rape. Now the 24-year-old was pardoned – probably under pressure from the Norwegian government.

For Marte Deborah Dalelv ends a nightmare: the Norwegian should spend 16 months in an Arab jail after she had shown her own rape to the police. Because of fornication she had been convicted by a court of the prison. After the case had caused some strong reactions in the Western world in recent days, Dalelv has now been pardoned.

On request, confirmed the Norwegian, they should leave the country. The office of the prosecutor’s office in Dubai have their back against their passport, and the sentence was dropped. “I’m very, very happy,” she told the AP news agency. By the authorities in Dubai, there was initially no opinion.

Dalelv was sentenced according to the newspaper “Aftenposten” because of extramarital sex, perjury and alcohol consumption. Neither police nor judges had the young woman believed that she had been raped, told the Norwegian news agency NTB.

“You know that no one will believe you”

The 24-year-old from Tønsberg had apparently worked since 2011 for an interior design company in Qatar. She had been in March after a ceremony in Dubai in collaboration with colleagues on the way back to a hotel, she told the tabloid newspaper “Verdens Gang”. She was drunk, a male colleague had dragged her to his hotel room, instead of bringing them into their own. There should have come to the rape. As Dalelv have shown the assault to the police, they told her: “You know that no one will believe you.” Then she was arrested.

According to NTB Dalelv had filed an appeal against the judgment. Until the beginning of the process in September she had to leave her passport, but remained at large.

The story of the young woman had dominated the headlines, especially in Norway and raised questions about the legal system in Dubai. Surprisingly clear, Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide had spoken up: “We believe that this is a completely unacceptable verdict is contrary to the human rights and fundamental understanding of the law.”

In the United Arab Emirates and some other countries with an Islamic legal system, it is extremely difficult for women to prove rape in court. What is needed is either a confession of the perpetrator or the testimony of at least four male witnesses.

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