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Mom detained in Dubai after drinking complimentary glass of wine on Emirates flight

By Kathleen Joyce
Fox News
August 11, 2018

A mother from Kent, England, and her young daughter were jailed in Dubai for three days – where she was allegedly denied water and forced to clean toilets – after she admitted to drinking a glass of wine on the incoming Emirates flight from London, but Dubai officials have a different side of the story.

It’s illegal to drink alcohol or be intoxicated in public in Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates.

Ellie Holman, a 44-year-old dentist originally from Sweden who resides in Britain with her husband and their three children, was arrested on July 13 after landing in Dubai with her 4-year-old daughter, the Press Association reported.

Upon arrival in Dubai, an official reportedly told Holman she needed to return to the United Kingdom immediately because of an invalid visa, at which point she took out her phone and started filming the encounter, according to human rights group Detained in Dubai.

Holman said the official was “dismissive and rude” to her, and asked if she had been consuming alcohol. She admitted to the official that she had a complimentary glass of wine on the Emirates flight.

Holman, unaware that it was an offense to film the encounter, and illegal to drink alcohol, was taken into custody, Detained in Dubai reported. The mother and her daughter also had their passports and electronic devices confiscated.

Holman said in a statement to Detained in Dubai that the prison guards also attempted to pull out her hair extensions, and the prison facility was “hot and foul-smelling.” She claimed she and her daughter were forced to sleep on a “filthy mattress” and to clean toilets.

“My little girl had to go to the toilet on the cell floor. I have never heard her cry in the same way as she did in that cell,” Holman said in a statement.

Holman added that she was given food that “smelled like rotting garbage.” She said her husband and friends tried to visit her in jail, but they were not allowed to see her.

Holman was released on bail days later, but could face “being detained in Dubai for up to a year while awaiting a court hearing,” the Press Association reported. Her passport was confiscated until the case is finished, and she claims to have already lost thousands of dollars in missed wages and legal costs.

Her daughter returned to the United Kingdom with her husband.

Holman was initially traveling to Dubai with her to daughter to visit friends for a few days. She has been in the country before.

However, Dubai officials told The Sun a different story and disputed the dentist’s claim.

“We dispute Dr. Holman’s account of her treatment," an official told The Sun. “She was not turned away because she had a one-visit visa, as she claimed, because European citizens get a 30-day visa upon arrival. UAE law is strict on people recording others on their mobile phone without permission, which will not have helped Dr. Holman’s case. She became abusive towards airport staff, which is not tolerated.

“We cannot comment further as Dr Holman’s case is still under review but there is more to her story than she has told."

Dubai's Attorney General's Office told Fox News in a statement that an investigation into the incident was completed and charges were dropped. The office said it decided to deport Hollman after she attempted to enter the country with an expired visa.

The office also said Hollman and her child "remained in airport security for less than 24 hours while services were provided to them, taking into full account and consideration of her 4-year-old daughter."

Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai’s chief executive, said it is “wholly illegal for any tourist to have any level of alcohol in their blood, even if consumed in flight and provided by Dubai’s own airline. It is illegal to consume alcohol at a bar, a hotel and a restaurant, and if breathalyzed, that person will be jailed."

However, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says that being intoxicated, and not neccessarily just having a small amount of alcohol in your system, is what's actually forbidden, according to News.com.au.

“It’s illegal to drink alcohol or be intoxicated in public,” the department states. “You can be arrested. Foreigners have been arrested on arrival after becoming intoxicated on incoming aircraft or while in transit.”

Dubai man jailed for insulting Islam on Facebook loses appeal

Marie Nammour /Dubai
Filed on September 12, 2017
Khaleej Times

An electricity welder, sentenced to one year in jail on the charge of insulting Islam on social media, has lost his appeal in court.

The Court of First Instance convicted the 31-year-old Indian worker in May of disrespecting and insulting Prophet Muhammed (Peace Be Upon Him) in posts he shared on Facebook.

Even though he deleted all the posts and details on his account, shortly later, copies of the messages were obtained and used as evidence by the public prosecution in the case against him.

The primary court then sentenced him to one year in prison and ordered him to pay a Dh500,000 fine - to be deported afterwards. He filed an appeal as he denied the charges on the grounds his account had been hacked but he lost the appeal after the court upheld the earlier ruling.

Public prosecution records show the defendant tried to flee the UAE shortly after posting the messages.

The complaint was filed on November 6 last year, at Al Rashidiyah police station by an Indian man who read the messages.

The accused was arrested two days later while trying to leave the country. His mobile phone from which he made the posts was also seized.

According to the General Directorate of Criminal Evidence, the defendant's Facebook account was used from his own mobile phone and no hacking was suspected. The last time he signed out was on November 7, last year.

The defendant may still challenge the appellate court verdict within 30 days.

Man on trial in Dubai for insulting Islam online

Marie Nammour /Dubai
Filed on March 6, 2017
Khaleej Times

A man is on trial for trying to flee the UAE after allegedly insulting Islam on social media.

The 31-year-old Indian electric welder is accused of posting messages - insulting Islam and disrespecting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - on Facebook on November 6, 2016, the Court of First Instance was told on Sunday.

Even though he deleted all the posts and details on his account shortly after, copies of the messages were obtained, translated and used as evidence by the Dubai public prosecution.

The complaint was filed on November 7 at Al Rashidiyah police station.

The accused was arrested two days later while trying to leave the country through Dubai International Airport. His mobile phone, allegedly used to post the messages, was seized.

He has been charged with disrespecting the Prophet (PBUH) online.

According to the General Directorate of Criminal Evidence, the defendant's Facebook account was accessed from his own mobile phone.

The last time he logged out was on November 7, according to initial investigations.

No hacking was suspected.

It was not yet clear whether his account was accessed by another party through another device.
The trial has been adjourned to March 21.

Dubai imprisons Norwegian woman who reported rape

Michael Winter, USA TODAY
8:21 p.m. EDT July 18, 2013

Businesswoman was convicted of having sex outside of marriage, in addition to perjury and drinking alcohol. Rape laws in the emirates tilt against victims.

A Dubai court has sentenced a Norwegian woman to 16 months in jail for having sex outside of marriage after she reported being raped, according to news reports from the United Arab Emirates.

Marte Deborah Dalelv, 24, was convicted Wednesday. She was also found guilty of perjury and of drinking alcohol, the English-language Local reported. The Norway Post said she was 25.

Dalelv told police March 6 that she was raped while in the emirate on business. Her father said she was instead jailed for four days and had her passport and money confiscated. She was then charged.

Norwegian diplomats secured her release to the local Norwegian Seamen's Church.

The Norwegian Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that the verdict "flies in the face of our notion of justice" and was "highly problematic" in terms of Western human rights.

For a rape conviction, United Arab Emirates law requires either a confession or four adult male witnesses to the attack.

The case was not reported in the two major English-language newspapers in the United Arab Emirates, The National and The Khaleej Times.

Similar cases involving foreigners and Emirati women have been reported in the past few years.

In December, a 28-year-old British woman who reported being kidnapped and gang-raped by three men in Dubai was found guilty of drinking alcohol without a license. She was fined $257.

Three years ago, an Abu Dhabi court sentenced an 18-year-old Emirati woman to a year in prison for illicit sex after she reported that six men had gang-raped her.

In 2008, an Australian woman managing a United Arab Emirates resort reported being brutally gang-raped while unconscious because she had been drugged. She was convicted of illegal sex outside marriage and sentenced to 11 months in prison, in addition to one month for drinking alcohol.

She was pardoned after eight months, as were three men convicted of raping her.

"When it comes to seeking justice for sexual violence, women in the UAE still face formidable and often insurmountable barriers," a Human Rights Watch researcher told The Independent.

Human Rights Watch has accused the United Arab Emirates of condoning sexual violence and called changes to its procedures for rape victims.

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