An American college student was sentenced to a year in a prison in Dubai after being accused of “assaulting and insulting” an airport security guard during a layover. Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos was denied boarding on July 15 as she was traveling through Dubai International Airport.
She was subjected to “unpleasant, humiliating, and offensive searches” when traveling from Istanbul to New York via Dubai. Airport staffers, on the other hand, accused her of “assaulting and insulting” them.
Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos was traveling from Istanbul with a friend, when the incident occurred.
“Elizabeth’s experience transiting through Dubai International Airport has left our organization, Detained in Dubai, calling for increased travel warnings to U.S. citizens,” founder of Detained in Dubai Radha Stirling said in a statement.
Polanco De Los Santos said she chose Dubai as a layover rather than Paris and regretted the decision. “We thought it would be a more modern and futuristic city, but we were completely wrong,” Polanco De Los Santos said in the press release.