Corpun file 24704 at www.corpun.com

Arabian Business, Dubai, UAE, 22 April 2013

Qatar sentences man to 40 lashes for drinking alcohol

By Francesca Astorri

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Qatar has sentenced an Asian Muslim to 40 lashes and fined $138 for being drunk.

The charges filed against him by the Public Prosecution included disturbing neighbours and handing his telephone number to a woman with "bad intentions", according to the Daily The Peninsula.

A member of the family that employed the maid filed a complaint with police, saying that a man living in the building had passed on a piece of paper his phone number to his housemaid. The police found the man in a drunken state. The Asian Muslim, who works in Qatar as a barber, confessed he had got drunk early in the morning.

The news is likely to raise concerns ahead of the 2022 World Cup due to be staged in Qatar, with authorities still to lay out their plans on selling alcohol during the tournament.

Qatar currently limits the sale of alcohol mostly to five-star hotels and doesn't sell alcohol currently at soccer matches. It is been suggested that alcohol could be made available at special zones close to the stadiums.

This is not the first case of a Muslim sentenced for drinking alcohol in Qatar. Three months ago a man was sentenced to one year in jail and to pay a $274 fine after being found drunk on a Qatar Airways flight and having sexually harassed cabin crew. The man was charged for "sexually assaulting hostesses and drinking even though he was a Muslim".

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