SINGAPORE - Two Singaporean men who were each sentenced to a year's jail in Abu Dhabi for wearing women's clothes had their charges reduced to a fine and deportation.

According to The National, the charges were reduced on Sunday (Aug 27) by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department to a Dh10,000 (S$3, 689) fine and deportation for both.

Fashion photographer Muhammad Fadli Abdul Rahman, 26, and Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim, 37, were arrested three weeks ago (Aug 9) in a shopping centre after arriving in Abu Dhabi on Aug 8.

They were arrested for "wearing women's clothes in public and for behaving indecently", according to court documents.

Cross-dressing, homosexuality and being transgender are crimes in the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Fadli's brother, Muhammad Saiful Bahri Bin Abdul Rahman, 32, said his family was informed about his brother's arrest by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) two weeks ago. Then, last Monday, they were told that Mr Fadli had been sentenced to a year's jail on Aug 20.