Egyptian actress denies assault in Dubai court

Dubai - The tourist and his wife were also charged with physically assaulting the actress and her sister and insulting them.

The Egyptian actress Zeina and her sister denied charges of assaulting and insulting an American tourist and his family when they appeared in Dubai court of misdemeanors on Tuesday.

According to records, the 38-year-old celebrity and her 41-year-old sister attacked and insulted the man and his wife last June when they thought the family was filming them on video during their outing at Dubai Atlantis's Gold Lounge.

"I swear to god that these people are not telling the truth. I am a famous actress and I wouldn't and haven't attacked anyone before," Zeina told the judge in court on Tuesday.

The tourist, 48 and his wife, 44, were also charged with physically assaulting the actress and her sister and insulting them. The tourist, whose wife was not present in court, denied charges.

The case was referred to the public prosecution last year when both parties failed to reach a solution. The complaint was filed at Al Barsha Police Station after police officers were called at the scene.
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The Egyptian celebrity and her sister had told officers they noticed a group of six people taking videos and pictures of them. In a public statement, the actress said she requested the family respectfully to stop filming her, but was surprised when they attacked her and her sister in an "exaggerated manner."

However, the tourist said he heard the actress screaming at his daughter in Arabic telling her she was an animal. He approached her and told her his daughter didn't speak Arabic.

"She shifted to English and cursed all of us using very foul language," he told officers.

Zeina's defence lawyer, Mahmoud Azab requested the court to press assault charges against the 12-year-old girl and sexual assault against the husband.

He then presented a medical report stating that his clients suffered bruises in several parts of their bodies as a result of the attack.

"The wife pulled the actress from her hair. She was joined by her daughter and husband who attacked the sister and bumped her head into a cement pole," he said.

"They claim their daughter didn't speak Arabic but she did, she comes from a Syrian origin," he said.

However, Emirati lawyer Awatif Mohammed from Al Rowaad Advocates who represented the tourist and his wife told the court that both sisters had been previously involved in similar cases.

"The actress was sentenced to a month in jail by an Egyptian court for assault few years back, and in another case, Zeina and her sister were charged with assaulting journalists," said Mohammed.

The lawyer requested the court to add two additional charges to the sisters of assaulting the girl and threatening to commit an indecent public act.

"A legal translation of the insults issued by them indicate that they threatened to subject my client and his wife to an indecent act, which is punishable by a minimum of six months in prison and deportation," said Mohammed.

She also said that prosecutors overlooked the medical report that proved the girl had scratches and bruises in her arms after being attacked by the celebrity and her sister.

In her statement to the media, Zeina said her privacy has been breached by the teen and her family when they recorded her but a criminal laboratory report said that no images or clips of the actress were found on the teen's mobile phone.

A verdict is expected on January 24.

• Dubai