UNITED
NATIONS, July
20 -- The UN
has provided a
comment a day
after being
asked by Inner
City Press
about the case
of Norwegian
woman who went
to work in
Dubai and
reported being
raped there in
March, then
sentenced to
16
months in jail
for having sex
out of
wedlock.
At
the UN in New
York, Inner
City Press on
Friday asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
if the UN
Secretariat
had any
comment on the
jail sentence.
Video
here from
Minute 15:40.
Here is the
UN's
transcript:
Inner
City Press: an
individual
case, but one
that’s
generated
quite a lot of
interest,
where Dubai
and the UAE
[United Arab
Emirates] has
sentenced to
16 months in
jail a woman
from Norway
that went to
the police
with a rape
complaint and
then was… has
been charged
with having
sex out of
wedlock and
jailed.
And I wanted
to know, given
the… the… the…
whatever, if
there is any
comment from
the UN
Secretariat on
that?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky:
I don’t think
so, no.
I am not
dismissing
this story, I
simply don’t
have any
comment on
that, and I
would need to
check further
in case there
was any
comment.
Inner City
Press: Okay.
Spokesperson:
I think
whether
individual
cases; it is
not always
appropriate
for the United
Nations
Secretariat to
comment, but
that doesn’t
mean that I
won’t look
into it, okay.
As
noted, it may
sometimes be
true that "in
individual
cases it is
not always
appropriate
for the UN
Secretariat to
comment," but
here the woman
stayed
quiet from
March until
this week
hoping it
would help. It
did not.
She
has come
forward,
saying her
name is Marte
Dalelv and she
was
recruited to
work in Dubai
by a company
called The One
-- which fired
her after she
reported being
raped.
On
Saturday
morning, July
20, the
following came
in:
Subject:
Question
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date:
Sat, Jul 20,
2013 at 9:12
AM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
On
your question
about the case
in the UAE:
Violence
against women
is
unacceptable,
no matter
where it
happens, and
no matter what
form it
takes. The UN
hopes that all
violations
such as these
cases are
redressed and
that women
worldwide have
access to
justice.
The
One's website
is still
playing music,
and lists in
Dubai
“Fusion Al
Quoz
Theatre &
Deli, Jumeirah
Theatre &
Deli, Mall of
the Emirates
Theatre, THE
One Outlet and
Wafi Boutique
Theatre,” as
well as
locations in
Abu Dhabi in
the United
Arab Emirates,
as well as in
Bahrain,
Jordan,
Kuwait,
Lebanon,
Tunisia and
Qatar.
The
CEO of The
One, Thomas
Lundgren, has
been tweeting
Instagram
photos
of himself
watching black
and white TV
with his
grandmother,
most
recently on
July 16.
Sounds like
UNsocial
media.
, 
