TALLINN: A court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has cancelled a sentence of 80 lashes handed down to an Estonian soldier and has decided that he is to a face a new trial, a defense official in Estonia said Monday. An Islamic court in the UAE last week sentenced Andrei Korol, an Estonian soldier serving as a UN peacekeeper in Afghanistan, to one month in prison and 80 lashes for consuming alcohol and sexually harassing an Egyptian policewoman at Sharjah airport in the UAE. The prosecutor general decided not to implement the sentence, as Korol is not Muslim and that is why it was decided he should not be flogged. The court of second instance then cancelled the flogging, Major Peeter Tali, a spokesman for the Estonian defense forces, told AFP. Korol is not allowed to leave the United Arab Emirates, and he has to stand trial again on Saturday, Tali added. Estonian officials said they had contacted the United States and other Western allies in an attempt to ensure the peacekeeper returns to his home country as soon as possible. The Egyptian policewoman charged that Korol tried to rape her as she slept in a women s staff room during a break. A court originally sentenced Korol to three months in jail, but his lawyer asked if part of the prison term could be replaced with some other form of punishment. The court suggested 80 lashes, which was accepted by Korol s lawyer, according to Tali. However, the lawyer later appealed the flogging sentence. Korol has already served the one-month jail term he was given for consuming alcohol at the airport in Sharjah, a conservative member of the seven emirates that form the UAE. Consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the state, but it is sold in duty-free shops. The Estonian soldier has admitted he was exhausted and drunk when the purported sexual harassment incident occurred during a stopover in Sharjah on his way home from Afghanistan in February, but insisted he did not remember touching the policewoman or approaching her in any way. AFP
UAE court cancels flogging sentence for Estonian soldier for alleged attempt to rape Egyptian woman
