PARIS, March 17: French authorities say they’re hopeful that a judicial decision expected to be handed down in Dubai on March 29 will allow the return home of French citizen Touria Tiouli, a woman of Moroccan origin, accused of engaging in extramarital relations last October with three UAE citizens.

The French press has in recent weeks stepped up its coverage of the affair, with French politicians, including President Chirac, having intervened with the UAE authorities.

She has been presented in the French media as being the victim of a situation which would never have been brought about had she not chosen in the first place to file a complaint with Dubai police over her alleged rape by three citizens.