Marte Deborah Dalelv (born 1988) is a Norwegian woman, who in 2013, received a prison sentence of 16 months in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for perjury, consensual extramarital sex and alcohol consumption. Dalelv had originally reported a man to the police for an alleged rape[1] but withdrew the rape allegation several days later, saying at that time that the intercourse had been consensual.[2] In court she claimed she had been raped.[3]
Dalelv's boss was jailed for 13 months for alcohol consumption and having consensual sex. Dalelv appealed the conviction and had a hearing scheduled for September 2013, but she was pardoned on 22 July, a few days after Norwegian media reported the news and after it had drawn extensive international media attention, which caused an uproar on both social media and traditional Western media outlets. Human rights activists and politicians expressed strong criticism of the Dubai justice system's handling of the incident. In Norway the criticism, as first expressed by professor in religious studies, Dag Øistein Endsjø, was mainly against the initial lack of official Norwegian reaction against what was considered a human rights violation against a Norwegian citizen. The incident occurred in March 2013 and was first reported by Norwegian media on 17 July 2013.[4]
Dalelv had worked as an interior designer in Qatar since 2011 until this incident.[5]
- ^ Winter, Michael (29 June 2010). "Dubai imprisons Norwegian woman who reported rape". USA Today. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ Dubai sex case offers lessons both in the UAE and abroad The National, 23 July 2013; retrieved 9 October 2013.
- ^ Andreas Slettholm (23 July 2013): Marte Dalelv ble dømt fordi hun trakk voldtektsanmeldelsen Aftenposten; retrieved 9 October 2013 (in Norwegian)
- ^ "Norsk kvinne anmeldte voldtekt i Dubai: – Dømt forsex utenfor ekteskap", vg.no, 17 July 2013. (in Norwegian)
- ^ "Vergewaltigte Norwegerin von ihrer Firma 'The One' im Stich gelassen", focus.de; accessed 15 November 2014. (in German)