Sunday, October 22, 2017

A Scottish tourist says that he was just trying not to spill his drink while at a Dubai bar, and he'll spend time in jail for it

Jamie Harron, 27, was handed a 3-month sentence for touching a man's hip, something Harron says happened while he was walking with a drink in the crowded Rock Bottom Cafe on July 15, 2017; he says he put out his hand "to avoid impact" with a patron, but the incident led to a public indecency charge. The group Detained in Dubai has been championing Harron's cause and complaining about what it sees as deficiencies in his defense, including "key witnesses" who were not asked to testify. It says an appeal is planned, "though this will prolong his increasingly difficult circumstances in Dubai, and compound the enormous financial losses he has suffered as a consequence of the ongoing case." The group's CEO adds that his family hasn't been able to be by his side, as "they faced a very real risk of imprisonment themselves under the UAE's cybercrime laws which forbid criticism of the government." Harron, an electrician, stopped off in Dubai for a couple days en route to a job in Afghanistan.

1 comment:

Marc B said...

Of all the beautiful places to visit in the world with natural beauty and pleasant weather, this modern day European obsession with the artificially constructed Islamic playground of Dubai with desert heat AND coastal humidity is perplexing.