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Detained in Dubai is a London-based organisation founded in 2008 by Radha Stirling, which states its aim is to help foreigners abroad. [1] [2] [3]
Detained in Dubai was founded when Cat Le-Huy, a colleague of Stirling's from Endemol, was arrested in the UAE. Stirling led the legal team and media that ended with Le-Huy's release. Following the international press coverage of the case, Stirling was asked by others for assistance.
Detained in Dubai has represented businessmen and celebrities including Matt Joyce and Marcus Lee, Safi Qarashi, Sheikha Latifa, Artur Ligeska, Andy Neal, [4] Jamie Harron, [5] Billy Barclay, [6] Ellie Holman, [7] Laleh Shahravesh, David Oliver, Hervé Jaubert, Mohammed Haddad, Oussama El Omari, Richard Lau, Khater Massaad, Oussama El Omari, Peter Clark, Jihad Quzmar, Conor Howard, Robert Urwin, Alan Stevenson, Pancho Campo, André Gauthier, Hind Albalooki, Roxanne Hillier, Danielle Jeffries, Nichole Coffel, Ali Issa Ahmad, Dieter Kellouche, Perry Coppins, Tracy Wilkinson, Derrin Crawford, Andy Neal, Farzan Athari, Morag Koussa, Melissa McBurnie, Christopher Renehan, Conor Howard, [8] Billy Hood, [9] Albert Douglas, Sheikha Zeynab [10] and Brian Glendinning. [11]
In March 2018, Detained in Dubai responded to requests for help from Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, a princess and daughter of the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who was abducted by masked armed men off a boat near Goa on 4 March 2018. [12] [13] As of 5 May 2018 [update] , Latifa's location was unknown, but in December 2018, the “troubled girl” was reported to be in the care of her family by Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, after a meeting with Latifa's step-mother Princess Haya. [14] Robinson was publicly criticised by Detained in Dubai and Human Rights Watch; [15] in February 2021, Robinson retracted her statement, claiming she and Haya had been misled by the Dubai royal family. [16]
In April 2019, Detained in Dubai attracted media attention to the case of Laleh Shahravesh, a British citizen who was arrested in Dubai for having called her ex-husband an "idiot" and her ex-husband's new wife a "horse" in a Facebook post. According to Detained in Dubai, Shahravesh had risked a two-year prison sentence and a £ 50,000 fine for her "horseplay". [17]
Shahid Bolsen
Shahid King Bolsen became involved with the company after Detained In Dubai took up his case in 2012. [18] Bolsen admitted to killing a German engineer he met online in 2006 and escaped from prison. Bolsen has been accused of inciting violence against Americans and American businesses in Egypt as recently as 2015 [19] which he denied in an interview with Stirling. [20]
According to The New York Times, Bolsen is quoted as saying "The idea is disruption without bloodshed, I condemn the loss of life and the use of violence against people". But, he added, if a few lives are lost to help prevent needless deaths at the hands of security forces, "sometimes it is a price to be paid." [19] Bolsen claims that the question was focused on property damage not loss of life. [21]
Ellie Holman
In August 2018, Swedish-Iranian Ellie Holman was charged with having alcohol in her blood after drinking one complimentary glass of wine on an Emirates flight prior to her arrival in Dubai. [22] Radha Stirling alleged that "the UAE maintains a deliberately misleading facade that alcohol consumption is perfectly legal for visitors." According to Detained in Dubai, the UAE presented that she had been detained for visa-related issues, though the official prosecution charge provided that she had been arrested for the consumption of alcohol and invading the privacy of an officer. Detained in Dubai has campaigned for legislative reforms to prevent further such arrests. [23]
In response, Emirates released a statement clarifying that alcohol consumption is not prohibited on their flights and alcohol is served in the lounges in the Dubai International Airport and is available for purchase in the duty-free area of the airport. [24] A statement from attorney General of Dubai was released detailing that Holman attempted to enter Dubai using an expired Swedish passport and was held for less than 24 hours and then deported due to profanity and photographing a government official in a restricted area. [25] Holman later stated that she had been held due to a "visa mistake". [26] The original story was criticized by Dubai for being "fake news." [27]
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Mohammed succeeded his brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum as UAE vice president and ruler of Dubai following the latter's death in 2006.
Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum was an Emirati royal, politician and a founder of the United Arab Emirates. Al Maktoum was the first vice president and second prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, and was the ruler of Dubai. He ruled Dubai for 32 years from 1958 until his death in 1990. He was the vice president from the founding of the UAE until his death. Al Maktoum was the first vice president to serve as prime minister concurrently, when he became prime minister on 30 April 1979. Every prime minister after him was de facto also vice president.
Princess Haya bint Al Hussein is the daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and his third wife, Queen Alia. She is the half-sister of King Abdullah II.
According to human rights organisations, the government of the UAE violates a number of fundamental human rights. The UAE does not have democratically elected institutions and citizens don't have the right to change their government or form political parties. Activists and academics who criticize the government are detained and imprisoned, and their families are often harassed by the state security apparatus. There are reports of forced disappearances of foreign nationals and Emirati citizens, who have been abducted, detained and tortured in undisclosed locations, and denied the right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during investigations by the UAE government. Human Rights Watch states that Emirati laws maintain capital punishment and discriminate against women, migrants and LGBT individuals.
The Marar is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a subsection of the Bani Yas.
The House of Maktoum is the ruling royal family of the Emirate of Dubai, and one of the six ruling families of the United Arab Emirates. The family is a branch of the Bani Yas clan, which is a branch of the Al Bu Falasah section of the Bani Yas, a tribal federation that was the dominant power through the region that now forms the United Arab Emirates.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi is the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates. He is the eldest son of Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Member of the Supreme Council, Sheikh of Fujairah and Chairman of the Fujairah Foundation for Regions Development.
Human rights in Dubai are based on the Constitution and enacted law, which supposedly promise equitable treatment of all people, regardless of race, nationality or social status, per Article 25 of the Constitution of the United Arab Emirates. Despite this, Freedom House has stated: "Extreme forms of self-censorship are widely practiced, particularly regarding issues such as local politics, culture, religion, or any other subject the government deems politically or culturally sensitive. The Dubai Media Free Zone (DMFZ), an area in which foreign media outlets produce print and broadcast material intended for foreign audiences, is the only arena where the press operates with relative freedom."
According to Human Rights Watch, there is substantial discrimination against women in the United Arab Emirates. The status of women has improved over the years. UAE performs better on metrics of gender equality than many other states in the Gulf region, and it has been making reforms to protect women's rights and empower women in different sectors. Critics describe some of these reforms as window dressing.
Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is a karate, taekwondo, polo athlete and Sheikha of Dubai. She was the first woman from UAE to represent the country in the Olympics in 2008.
Hervé Jaubert is a French former Navy officer, marine engineer and DGSE agent. He moved to Stuart, Florida in the early 2000s where he set up a company to build and operate recreational submarines, under the Exomos brand. He then moved his firm to the United Arab Emirates. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis in October 2008, Exomos was closed. In May 2008, facing accusations in Dubai of fraud and embezzlement worth AED 14 million, Jaubert escaped from Dubai in a dinghy. He subsequently returned to Stuart, where he was a permanent US resident and wrote a book about his ordeal. On April 15, 2009, he was tried in absentia in Dubai and convicted of illegally acquiring AED 14 million by abusing his position with Exomos, a subsidiary of Dubai World, according to court records. He was sentenced to five years in prison but Jaubert denied the charges against him. His book, titled “Escape from Dubai” was published November 10, 2009.
The visa policy of the United Arab Emirates allows citizens of certain countries to enter the United Arab Emirates without a visa. Citizens of certain other countries must obtain a visa from one of the UAE diplomatic missions. Alternatively, they may obtain an online visa through Smart Service or airlines.
Dubai Culture is an authority under Government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which works in preservation of the cultural heritage and support of cultural scene in Dubai.
David Lawrence Haigh is a British human rights lawyer and international crisis and media manager.
Radha Stirling is a human rights advocate, and lawyer, specializing in legal issues in the Middle East. She is the founder of the United Kingdom-based organisations Detained in Dubai, Due Process International and IPEX Reform.
Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is a member of the House of Al Falasi, a branch of the House of Maktoum, the ruling royal family of the Emirate of Dubai. He is the fifth son of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Emir of Dubai.
Events in the year 2018 in the United Arab Emirates.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is an Emirati sheikha and a member of the Dubai ruling family. She is the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, and an Algerian woman named Huriah Ahmed al M'aash.
Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is an Emirati princess and a member of the Dubai ruling family. Her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, and her mother, Huriah Ahmed al M'aash, is from Algeria. She is the full sister of Sheikha Maitha, Sheikha Latifa and Sheikh Majid.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the chairperson of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and a member of Dubai Council. She is also the vice chairman of Emirates Literature Foundation, a board member of Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives and honorary president of the Association of Graduates of Zayed University in Dubai.