The individuals are facing criminal charges, the police said.
LONDON – A group of people were arrested in Dubai on Saturday because of widely shared images showing women posing nude on a balcony of a skyscraper in the city, police said.
Photographs and videos circulated on social media on Saturday night showing more than a dozen naked women who were lined up on the waterfront porch of a residential building while being filmed in the upscale Dubai Marina neighborhood in broad daylight. The state newspaper The National reported that the display was “an apparent advertising ploy” without giving details.
The Dubai Police Force later announced that a group of people who appeared in the “indecent” images were arrested on charges of public debauchery and forwarded to the Dubai Prosecutor’s Office. The identities of the individuals were not disclosed.
“The Dubai Police warns against these unacceptable behaviors that do not reflect the values and ethics of Emirati society,” the agency said in a statement late on Saturday.
Although the United Arab Emirates is seen as one of the most socially liberal countries in the Middle East, the images still came as a shock to a mostly Muslim nation, where public kisses put people behind bars.
Violations of the public decency law in the UAE, which is based on Islamic or Sharia law, are punishable by up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to 5,000 dirhams ($ 1,360). Sharing pornographic material can also result in imprisonment and a fine of up to 500,000 dirhams ($ 136,128).
Christine Theodorou of ABC News contributed to this report.