A 22-year-old Dutch woman detained for three months in Qatar on suspicion of adultery after she reported being drugged and raped was given a one-year suspended sentence on Monday and will be allowed to return home, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said. 
 
 The woman, identified only as Laura and described as being from the Dutch city of Utrecht, was held and prosecuted on charges of adultery and alcohol consumption. She has been fined about 750 euros, or nearly $850, and will be sent back to the Netherlands, said Daphne Kerremans, a spokeswoman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry. 
 
 “The ambassador is with her now and is making sure that she can go home as soon as possible,” Ms. Kerremans said. “It was quite overwhelming for her.” 
 
 Doha News, an internet news site in Qatar, reported that the ambassador to the Netherlands, Yvette Burghgraef van Eechoud, said outside the courtroom that the woman would be released from prison in coming days. 
 
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 News reports said that the man Laura accused of sexually assaulting her had also been detained and that he had told the Qatari authorities that the sex was consensual. ||||| Doha, Qatar - A Dutch woman who alleged she was drugged and raped is to appear in court on Monday, believed to be charged with having sex outside of marriage, a criminal offence in this Gulf state. 
 
 The woman, 22, said she was drugged during a party in March at the Crystal Lounge nightclub at the W Doha Hotel, and woke up in an unfamiliar apartment when she realised she had been sexually assaulted. 
 
 The Dutch woman, who was on vacation at the time, reported the incident to Qatari police and was immediately arrested. She has been held ever since on charges that still remain unclear. 
 
 Al Jazeera called the Qatari prosecutor's office to confirm the charges and the nationality of the alleged assailant, but received no response by publication time. 
 
 One senior defence lawyer not involved in the case told Al Jazeera that the woman may face charges of having sex outside marriage, a serious crime under Qatar's penal code. 
 
 Conflicting accounts 
 
 The alleged assailant - who also has been arrested - acknowledged having sex with the woman but said it had been consensual, according to Dutch media reports. 
 
 The Dutch embassy in Doha told Al Jazeera that officials were in close contact with the woman and her family in the Netherlands. 
 
 "We have provided assistance to her since the first day of detention. For the sake of the defendant's case, we will not make further comments at this point," the Dutch embassy said in a statement sent to Al Jazeera on Sunday. 
 
 The victim's mother was quoted by Dutch media describing the ordeal her daughter is going through as a "nightmare". 
 
 Doha-based attorney Najeeb al-Nuaimi - Qatar's former justice minister who is not involved in the proceedings - told Al Jazeera that defence lawyers will have to prove there were "no voluntary actions" between the woman and the man. 
 
 He said that even if she was seen walking with the accused, the judge may have doubts, adding signs of force would need to be proved in a rape case. 
 
 If not, the judge would probably consider ruling against both for having sex outside marriage, which is known as "zina" under Islamic law. Nuaimi said such cases often end with a judge issuing a punishment involving "a number of lashes". 
 
 Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @ ali_reports ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Sexual acts by non-married people are punishable under Qatar's penal code 
 
 A court in Qatar has convicted a Dutch woman of having sex outside marriage after she told police she was raped. 
 
 The 22-year-old was handed a suspended sentence and fined $824 (£580). She will also be deported. 
 
 Her lawyer said her drink had been spiked at a Doha hotel in March and she had woken up in a stranger's flat, where she realised she had been raped. 
 
 Her alleged attacker, who said the sex was consensual, was sentenced to 100 lashes for having sex outside marriage. 
 
 He will be given a further 40 lashes for consuming alcohol. 
 
 The woman has been detained since making the allegation three months ago, but her case only came to light over the weekend when her family decided to go public. 
 
 'Horror' 
 
 The Dutch ambassador to Qatar, Yvette Burghgraef-van Eechoud, said after Monday's court hearing that she expected the woman to leave Qatar within days. 
 
 "We will do everything to get her out of the country as soon as possible to where she wants to go," she told AFP news agency. 
 
 Court officials said she would be deported once the fine was paid. 
 
 The woman was arrested by Qatari police immediately after reporting that she had been raped on the night of 15 March, as was the alleged assailant. 
 
 During a holiday in the emirate, she went out with a friend for drinks at a hotel where the sale of alcohol was permitted, according to her lawyer Brian Lokollo. 
 
 "She went dancing but when she returned to the table after the first sip of her drink, she realised someone had added something to her glass," he said. 
 
 The woman did not feel very well and she later woke alone in an unfamiliar flat and "realised to her great horror that she had been raped", Mr Lokollo added. 
 
 Doha-based lawyer Najeeb al-Nuaimi, Qatar's former justice minister, told the Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera the woman's lawyers would have had to prove there had been "no voluntary actions" between her and the man for him to be charged with rape. 
 
 Even if they had been seen walking together, the authorities might have doubts any sexual activity was non-consensual and instead prosecute both for having sex outside marriage, which is known as "zina" under Islamic law, Mr Nuaimi said. 
 
 Article 281 of Qatar's penal code states: "Whoever copulates with a female over 16 without compulsion, duress or ruse shall be punished with imprisonment for a term up to seven years. The same penalty shall also be imposed on the female for her consent." 
 
 According to media reports, dozens of people convicted of zina have been given flogging sentences since 2004, including at least 45 between 2009 and 2011. 
 
 The case of the Dutch woman raises further questions about how the Qatari authorities will deal with the thousands of Western tourists expected to travel to the country for the 2022 Fifa World Cup, many of whom may be unfamiliar with its laws. 
 
 In 2013, a Norwegian woman in the United Arab Emirates was given a 16-month prison sentence for perjury, extramarital sex and drinking alcohol after she told police she had been raped. She was later pardoned and allowed to return to Norway. ||||| A Dutch woman who was arrested in Qatar after reporting she was raped has been found guilty of having sex outside marriage and public drunkenness. 
 
 Laura, 22, from Utrecht, was given a suspended one-year jail sentence by a court in Qatar on Monday, NOS reported. She has been in custody since March 14, when she went to the authorities to file a complaint of rape. 
 
 Her mother told the AD she was delighted by the news. ‘She’s been convicted, but she’s coming home,’ she said. ‘I don’t know exactly how or when she’s coming back, but I’m so relieved.’ 
 
 The man Laura accused of raping her, named as Omar Abdullah Al-Hassan, a Syrian national, was also found guilty of sexual activity outside marriage and drinking alcohol. The court sentenced him to 140 lashes. He was not charged with rape. 
 
 He claimed the sex was consensual but there was an argument afterwards which prompted Laura to contact the authorities. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The court fined the Dutch woman €750 and told her she would not have to serve her sentence as long as she did not commit any further offences in Qatar for three years. 
 
 Consular support 
 
 MPs voiced concern about the case over the weekend, particularly the claim that the embassy had taken three weeks to send somebody to visit Laura in jail. 
 
 On Monday family lawyer Brian Lokollo said she was now receiving consular support. ‘We’ve achieved our goal: we have generated attention for her case and we have put the issue on the political agenda,’ he said. 
 
 Laura said the attack happened following a night out at the Crystal Lounge in the Doha Hotel, a popular hangout with foreign tourists where alcohol is permitted. She claims she was drugged and raped and woke up in a strange apartment. She had flashbacks of leaving the hotel in a taxi with an Arab man, Lokollo said. 
 
 On Monday it emerged Laura had travelled to Qatar in secret with a friend, named as Lisa, who admitted being a prostitute after she was identified on sex sites. Laura’s mother told AD: ‘I finally got her on the phone and asked her: “What do you do for a living?” When I pressed her she said: “I’m a prostitute”. If that’s true it’s not good for Laura.’
– Qatar's Article 281 makes clear that any man who has extramarital sex "with a female over sixteen without compulsion, duress, or ruse shall be punished with imprisonment for a term up to seven years." The next part of that code raises eyebrows: "The same penalty shall also be imposed on the female for her consent." And it's what has dealt a conviction to a Dutch woman trapped in the Arab country since she reported her own rape three months ago, the BBC reports. The 22-year-old woman, IDed only as Laura, was given a one-year suspended sentence and $850 fine Monday, Daphne Kerremans, a Dutch Foreign Ministry rep, tells the New York Times. Laura was accused of adultery after she says her drink was drugged at a Doha hotel in mid-March and she woke up in a stranger's apartment to find she had been sexually assaulted; when she notified police, she was arrested. Laura's lawyer says that she was on vacation at a hotel that permitted the sale of alcohol (liquor is mostly illegal in Qatar). A former Qatar justice minister tells Al Jazeera that defense lawyers would had to have proved "no voluntary actions" existed between the woman and the man, IDed by Dutch News as Syrian national Omar Abdullah Al-Hassan. He claims the sex was consensual but that they argued after, prompting Laura to file her report; he received a sentence of 140 lashes—100 for the extramarital sex, 40 for drinking booze, none for rape. The burden in Qatar of proving sexual assault is so strong that a man and woman walking together could be enough to convince officials that the woman gave the OK to sex later. Laura will be deported after paying her fine. "The ambassador is with her now and is making sure that she can go home as soon as possible," Kerremans tells the Times. "It was quite overwhelming for her." (She's not the first foreigner to be accused of adultery in an Arab nation.)