NYC Student Sentenced To Prison After ONLY Touching Security Guards Arm

A New York City College student has been sentenced to one year in prison after she touched a security officers arm inside of a Dubai airport.

Elizabeth De los Santos, 21, was handed a one year sentenced after she touched a security guard’s arm inside of an United Arab Emirates airport.

A spokesperson for Elizabeth stated “Elizabeth only intended to transit through Dubai for six hours but she’s been there for months on end and has lost $50,000 in expenses and lawyers costs.”

Elizabeth was sentenced on Monday and before her sentencing she was placed on a travel ban for 3 months so she would not escape the country before her court hearing.

NYC college student sentenced to year in Dubai prison after touching airport security guard’s arm https://t.co/5unsYqInzI pic.twitter.com/mCREqYfeho

— New York Post (@nypost) October 3, 2023

https://twitter.com/realJohnACastro/status/1709557491355222178

Per The New York Post:

A New York City college student was sentenced to one year behind bars by the United Arab Emirates for allegedly “assaulting and insulting” an airport security guard during a flight connection in Dubai over the summer, according to reports.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, 21, a student at Lehman College in the Bronx, was handed her sentence Monday after spending nearly three months effectively trapped in Dubai with a travel ban issued against her, according to the advocacy group Detained in Dubai.

“Elizabeth only intended to transit through Dubai for six hours but she’s been there for months on end and has lost $50,000 in expenses and lawyers costs,” said Detained in Dubai founder Radha Stirling.

“On top of being humiliated and traumatized by airport staff, Elizabeth has suffered months of being forced to stay in an expensive country, pay expensive lawyers and miss out on her university studies.”

Los Santos’ ordeal began on July 14, as she and a friend were heading home to New York from a vacation in Istanbul.

A 21-year-old NYC college student has been sentenced to prison time in the United Arab Emirates over an altercation at a Dubai airport, an advocacy group says. https://t.co/45mE6YRXmJ

— ABC News (@ABC) October 4, 2023

Per ABC News:

A 21-year-old New York City college student who was recently sentenced to prison time in the United Arab Emirates over an altercation at a Dubai airport has been freed, an advocacy group said.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, a student at Lehman College in the Bronx, had been sentenced to one year in prison after being accused of “assaulting and insulting” Dubai International Airport customs officials, according to Detained in Dubai, an advocacy organization that supports foreign nationals who have been detained and prosecuted in the United Arab Emirates.

Her sentence has since been commuted and she boarded a flight home to New York late Tuesday night, the group said.

“The 21 year old is ecstatic to be returning to the US after five months of anguish,” Detained in Dubai said in a statement.