- A former Qatar Airways flight attendant says she was targeted by police for wearing Hermès merchandise.
- Gilbert Ignatius said he was left traumatized after being fired and expelled from Qatar.
- Ignatius worked in the airline’s business and first class cabins for six years.
A former Qatar Airways flight attendant who was detained for using colored moisturizer has said officers accused her of being a sex worker because she wore expensive clothes.
Gilbert Ignatius, a 32-year-old Indonesian flight attendant, spoke to a male police officer from Qatar’s Criminal Investigation Department to Business Insider. She slapped him after pointing out that he was wearing some Hermès items.
Ignatius said he worked for six years in the business and first class cabins of Qatar’s national airline. He said he was accosted by a police officer in May while celebrating his birthday at Klaw Barbecue restaurant in the capital Doha.
Ignatius said he and another flight attendant were taken to the police station after one of the two officers wiped colored moisturizer on their faces with a wet tissue. He added that the skin products are from the Shiseido Men collection.
Ignatius said the officers did not ask her consent to remove her moisturizer, asked her how much she earned each night and continued to accuse her of being a sex worker.
Ignatius said the officers who approached him also pointed out his designer shoes, belt and bag and insisted he must be a sex worker.
Mr Ignatius said he comes from a wealthy Indonesian family and completed his diploma at South Metropolitan TAFE in Perth, Australia. BI could not independently verify information regarding her family’s assets.
Ignatius told officers he was a flight attendant for Qatar Airways, but officers did not believe he could afford the items, he said. Ignatius told BI that Irving’s loafers, Kelly belt and clog bag were all made by Hermès.
“He said, ‘I don’t know how much you earn every month, so you think you can buy Hermès?'” Ignatius told BI.
Ignatius said the man slapped her in the face when she told the officer she had purchased the items before working for an airline.
Ignatius said he asked to contact the Indonesian embassy in Doha, but was refused, telling him that the embassy was closed and that he could wait in prison. The Indonesian embassy in Doha did not respond to BI’s request for comment.
Ignatius said police officers then released him and he returned to his Qatar Airways quarters before the 4 a.m. curfew.
In a police investigation certificate seen by BI, the Criminal Investigation Department said Ignatius had no criminal record. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation did not respond to BI’s request for comment.
The next day, Ignatius said his passport was confiscated by Qatar Airways and he was not allowed to leave his residence. Ignatius was fired on June 4, according to a letter from Qatar Airways seen by BI. The airline did not respond to BI’s request for comment.
Ignatius said he has since returned to Indonesia. He said he currently works as a flight attendant for Jetstar, which is owned by Australia’s Qantas Airways. Jetstar told BI it could not provide confirmation of employment for privacy reasons.
Ignatius said he needed counseling to recover from the emotional stress of the incident. “I was shocked. It was traumatizing.”
In recent years, Qatar has seen several controversies related to anti-LGBTQ attitudes. In September 2022, three men from the Philippines Deported from Qatar for wearing makeup in public. A few months later, an ambassador for the soccer World Cup, which is being held in Qatar, made homophobic comments in a television interview.
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