Sports Calendar

“I will fight, even for the rest of my life, to ensure [he] gets what he deserves... he should never get out of jail, at least to ensure the safety of other boys and girls,” she said.

The boy’s lawyer said the prosecution would appeal in the next two weeks for a tougher sentence against the two men aged 36 and 18.

A juvenile court in Dubai is currently trying the third suspect, aged 17. His trial is due to resume on December 25.

When the case was first publicised, the boy’s mother said that the Emirati authorities had lied about the HIV status of the older defendant to cover up the fact that AIDS exists in Dubai. She said: "Homosexuality is taboo, rape is taboo, and AIDS is taboo."

The high-profile case has raised questions over the treatment of sex crime victims in this rapidly growing but deeply conservative Gulf city-state, where the legal system is a mix of Islamic laws and tribal rules.

Ms Robert, who was a producer for Canal Plus Television, woke up French diplomats in Dubai as soon as she heard about the attack on her son.

Her high profile campaign has since attracted global attention, and sparked a diplomatic incident involving President Nicolas Sarkozy and Sheikh Zayid bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates leader.

The determined mother said today that after the jailing of her son’s attackers and promise to open victim support centres she would end her media campaign for a boycott of Dubai.

When Veronique Robert took her seat in a Dubai courtroom yesterday she hoped that the men who raped her teenage son would spend the rest of their lives in prison but feared that they might go free.

The judges' verdict fell somewhere in between. Two Emirati men — one of whom is HIV-positive — were sentenced to 15 years behind bars for the kidnapping and sexual attack of Alexandre, a Swiss-French student who was 15 when he was assaulted in the back seat of a car last summer.

His case was an agonising dilemma for his mother who faced the choice of exposing her son to possibly traumatic publicity or turning her back on justice. It has focused international attention on this booming emirate, raising questions over its treatment of sex crime victims.

Famous for its sandy beaches and glittering skyline Dubai is also a place where homosexuality is considered a crime, HIV is rarely discussed and victims of rape have few places to turn.

Times Recommends

• Mandela’s tribe threatens President Zuma
• The French empire strikes back
• Wife of cheating governor exacts a political revenge