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'A good day is when I speak to my sons': An 'adulterous' mother speaks from her Dubai prison
By Angella Johnson
Marnie Pearce shuffles into the narrow, glass-fronted booth from where she greets visitors at Dubais Al Awir womens jail.
Ill-fitting, dusty-pink drawstring pants and a matching shirt hang loosely on her gaunt frame she has lost nearly a stone since being imprisoned for adultery seven weeks ago.
Despite the artful application of make-up, her once glowing complexion is pale and dry. Her face is drawn into a tight mask of despair and her long, blonde hair, which was her crowning glory, reveals prominent dark roots.
The former florist from Berkshire has become an unlikely cause celebre for human rights campaigners Amnesty International has called for her immediate release since her dubious conviction under draconian Sharia law.
She was sentenced to six months, cut on appeal to three, after her former husband, an Egyptian, told police she had been having an affair. And Marnie, 40, has clearly been struggling to cope with life behind bars.
Marnie and Ihab on their wedding day. Soon after they married Ihab became violent towards her, subjecting her to 'years of abuse'
She has not seen her children, Laith, eight, and Ziad, four, since she was locked up.
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Marnies nightmare began on March 27 last year when police raided the family home in a smart suburb of Dubai. They found her inside with Brian Clark, also British, who was visiting from Saudi Arabia.
Marnie was arrested and Ihab, 41, claimed she was having an affair. The familys Indonesian maid, whose salary he pays, gave supportive evidence.
Under strict Muslim edict, it is unlawful for a woman to be alone in her home with a man, other than her husband or a family member.
The rule is rarely enforced for Westerners. And Marnie certainly hadnt concerned herself because in the past Ihab had always held liberal views on such matters. She had not counted on him exploiting the system to avoid an expensive Western divorce and custody battle.
Ihab set me up, Marnie insists, jabbing her finger as she becomes increasingly animated. I did nothing wrong. He bribed the maid to spy on me and then planted used condoms as evidence.
'A good day is when I speak to my sons': An 'adulterous' mother speaks from her Dubai prison | Mail Online
Should this woman be imprisoned?