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Tampa cabdriver detained in Dubai, accused of making obscene gesture

 
Yaqoob Chaki and Asia Musa arrived in the United Arab Emirates on May 21 for their honeymoon.
Yaqoob Chaki and Asia Musa arrived in the United Arab Emirates on May 21 for their honeymoon.
Published June 3, 2015

Another Tampa man has landed in trouble in the United Arab Emirates, accused of something commonplace in America: in this case, flashing someone the middle finger in traffic.

Yaqoob Chaki, 50, denies he made the gesture. Nevertheless, he says he is trapped in the small country on the Arabian Peninsula after authorities took his passport while he was on his honeymoon.

"I'm scared," Chaki told the Tampa Bay Times by phone Tuesday. "They're telling me I'll be here for a long time."

Chaki married Asia Musa, 36, more than seven years ago. He promised her a grand honeymoon. A cabdriver, he squirreled away money until they had enough for a $4,000, weeklong trip to Dubai, on the Persian Gulf.

"I was saving money for so many years," Chaki said.

The couple finally arrived in the United Arab Emirates on May 21, he said. On May 23, near midnight, Chaki and his wife were leaving the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, when he missed an exit in a roundabout — and may have cut off another driver, he said.

That driver, whom Chaki said was a local Emirati, began flashing his headlights and speeding ahead, blocking in Chaki's car. The man walked up to his car and banged on the window, Chaki said.

"I just raised my hand," he said. "I said, 'What's up, dude?' and he got upset."

The police came. Chaki followed them to a station, where they informed him the Emirati driver had accused him of making an indecent gesture, illegal in the United Arab Emirates. Chaki said he had no idea he could get in trouble just for raising his hand.

Police documents, written in Arabic and sent to the Times by Chaki, show that he was accused of making an obscene gesture and taking pictures with his iPhone 5. The documents do not specify the gesture made.

Chaki said police took his photograph and questioned him for two hours, continually asking him whether he showed the man his middle finger. He was released after questioning and has been staying in a hotel.

The U.S. Department of State warns on its website of harsh penalties for a number of behaviors considered indecent in the United Arab Emirates. Kissing in public, the website says, has landed travelers in jail for long periods of time. Adultery and alcohol-related offenses are similarly punished.

"Persons violating Emirati laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, imprisoned, or prevented from traveling and their passports held by local authorities for extended periods of time," the State Department's site says. It notes that U.S. citizens have been arrested for obscene hand gestures in the past.

An American contractor from Tampa was arrested and later released from the country after he was accused of disparaging his employer on Facebook this year. And a University of Florida professor on a school-approved trip was held after taking pictures of buildings in Dubai in March, according to the Gainesville Sun.

On Monday, Chaki managed to make contact with Ahmed Bedier, a human rights advocate and president of United Voices for America.

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"He's out of money," Bedier said. "This can have a major domino effect real quick. When you don't pay your hotel bill, you all of a sudden are breaking a different law."

Chaki said he has his hotel room secured through today. But he also said he suffers from Addison's disease, a rare deficiency that leads to decreased hormone production by the adrenal glands. Chaki said he has less than a week's worth of medicine left. He has hired a lawyer, he said, but does not know when or if he will appear in court.

"This is unacceptable," Bedier said. "This is a harsh treatment, especially if you don't have any other witnesses."

Times staff writer Shaker Samman, researcher John Martin and photographer Michael Bou-Nacklie contributed to this report.