Now we don’t mean to panic you. Qatar is, in many ways, quite a tolerant country. However, there are a few things that you should really avoid doing.
ARTICLE 77
Without the prejudice to the right of the competent administrative authorities in the deportation of any alien, in accordance with the law, the court can, if the alien is sentenced to prison for a period in case of felony or misdemeanor, order to deport him from the state after the completion of execution of the sentence.
If the sentence with the manner set forth in the preceding paragraph, issued in a crime involving moral turpitude or dishonesty, the court must sentence to deport the foreigner from the state after the completion of execution of the sentence or its decline.
ARTICLE 279
Everyone who had sexual intercourse with a female without her consent, whether under duress or threat or deception, shall be punished by death or life imprisonment.
ARTICLE 286
Everyone who indecently assaulted a person without his consent, either under duress or threat or deception shall be punished by an imprisonment for a term not exceeding fifteen years.
ARTICLE 292
Everyone who made or imported or released or possesses or transported for the purposes of exploitation or distribution or display a book or publication or other writings or cartoons or pictures or films or symbols or other things against the modesty or morals shall be punished by an imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding five thousand riyals or either of them.
ARTICLE 325
Everyone who threatened others to harm him or his reputation or his property or a person or reputation or money of a person whom he is concerned, whether the threat is in writing or orally or through the acts that suggest the intention to attack the person or reputation or money, intending thereby to encourage the victim to take the action or abstain shall be punished by an imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years and a fine of not more than ten thousand riyals or either of these two.
The punishment shall be an imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, if the accused threatened to kill.
ARTICLE 371
Everyone who with the way of circumvent managed to access the system that processes the data stored in a computer or adjusted its inside or in any part of it, without any right shall be punished by an imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years and a fine of not more than ten thousand riyals or either of them.
ARTICLE 373
Everyone who entered deliberately, either directly or indirectly, data in the automated processing system of a person or any party or destroyed or modified the data contained in it or the way of its processing and transportation shall be punished by an imprisonment for not less than one year and not exceeding three years and a fine of not less than ten thousand riyals and not exceeding fifty thousand riyals.
ARTICLE 386
In all cases, the seized amounts shall be returned an all machines seized and used in committing an offense set forth in cybercrime shall be confiscated.
FIVE SURE WAYS TO GET DEPORTED FROM QATAR
1. Drink Driving.
There is zero tolerance for Drink Driving in Qatar. Obviously, if a death was involved in a drink driving accident, the penalty would be far worse than deportation.
2. Getting Drunk
Well, let’s qualify this – it usually means getting drunk in a public place and making a nuisance of yourself. If you have a liqour permit, it’s legal to buy alcohol here and drink it in your own home (after concealing it in your car on the way) and it is legal to drink in a bar. It is not legal to drink elsewhere. However, the majority of people who have been arrested for drinking have been those causing problems: fighting and generally being a nuisance.
Muslims who drink should be extra careful. The law seems to be ambiguous here: they can get alcohol licences but they are forbidden to drink by Shariah law, and can be punished with a caning.
3. Looove…Outside Marriage
A number of people have asked us whether it is acceptable to live together outside marriage. The answer is no, it’s not. This is a strict Wahabbi country and many people, albeit usually servants, have been arrested, imprisoned and deported for sex outside marriage.
4. Offending Islam
5. Libel and Slander
You really don’t want to annoy the wrong person here. Qataris value their privacy and honour – so watch what what you say about who you say when you are chatting away on online forums here, or you might just find yourself with on a one-way plane trip back home.
