Norwegian Rape Victim Pardoned and Released

There's a twisted headline you hope to never see again. The Norwegian woman who was sentenced last week to over a year in a Dubai prison — after reporting she'd been raped — has been given a pardon, a spokeswoman for Norway's Foreign Ministry said Monday.According to CNN, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that 24-year-old Marte Deborah Dalelv may now go and come as she pleases, and is free to stay in Dubai if she wants to. (We're guessing she won't.)In March, Dalevl reported being raped to Dubai police. They then arrested her, jailed her, and took away her belongings. On Wednesday, a Dubai court then charged Dalelv with 16 months in prison for having had sex out of wedlock. And the icing on the crap-cake? Her employer, Wissam Al Mana (also, incidentally, Janet Jackson's husband) then fired Dalelv for "unacceptable and improper behavior." There's still no word on her employment.

Norwegian officials have said that the release came largely due to "very constructive" dialogue between Norwegian foreign ministers and representatives from the United Arab Emirates, but is also very much thanks to international pressure.

The Twitter world responded with the expected positivity.

Gulf News (of Dubai) reports the story a little differently, though. According to their subhead, "Marte Deborah Dalelv had been imprisoned for falsely reporting a rape, drinking and having consensual sex." Not only that, but according to Gulf News, "Marte’s 33-year-old Sudanese boss, H.A., who was jailed for 13 months for consuming liquor and having consensual sex, had also been pardoned."