This afternoon, the Westminster Magistrates Court ruled against the UAE's Application to Extradite Michael Halliday who had been accused in the UAE of breach of trust; which they argued in Court was the equivalent in the UK of Theft and Fraud. Jonathan Black of BSB Solicitors instructed Ben Cooper of Doughty Street Chambers to represent Mr Halliday as defence counsel. The defence submitted that if Halliday were to be extradited to the UAE, he would be at risk of torture and inhumane and degrading treatment by authorities of the UAE, particularly as a homosexual male. While the presiding Judge was satisfed that there was a Prima Facie case (a case to answer), he needed to consider under Artic
David Haigh, former Leeds United Managing Director was due to be released from prison on the 16th of November 2015 but has been further detained on accusations of posting offensive tweets about his former employer. We have kept an eye on David's account since his incarceration and have not noted anything that would usually be deemed offensive or defamatory and are unable to pin point the tweet that has lead to these accusations. David has been in prison and has not maintained direct control over his Twitter account and denies the allegations. Detained in Dubai's CEO, Radha Stirling stated "David should have been released on the 16th of November for deportation but has been detained over al
2015 has brought more debt victims to our doors than any other year save for the crash in 2009 that left countless foreign residents fleeing Dubai, leaving their properties and vehicles behind rather than facing prison. The banks in Dubai have long been offering credit, loans and mortgages to foreign nationals often in exchange for cheques that can be presented as security. If the cheque bounces, the debtor will be sentenced to time in prison to a maximum of 3 years per cheque. In response to a growing number of fleeing debtors, banks such as Emirates NBD, ADCB and others have been increasing their recovery efforts by employing international debt collectors and enforcers, such as "Fintrestl
Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai fully supports Mr Halliday's defence and anticipates a favourable judgment. Michael Halliday is defending in the UK Magistrates Court, an extradition request in the UAE. Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai said in a statement "We fully support Michael Halliday's defence on the grounds that if he were extradited, he would suffer human rights violations for a multitude of reasons and more so, due to his homosexual status. The Judgment is scheduled for delivery tomorrow and we expect a favourable result. Until the UAE improves its situation, we can not support extraditions". The Guardian News Reports as follows: Michael Halliday, who is acc
A Swedish male model and TV personality who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in Dubai for possessing cocaine has arrived home in Sweden after being pardoned by authorities. Farzan Athari, a 31-year-old Swedish-Iranian, was originally sentenced to life in jail after he was arrested outside his home in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa on May 14, 2013 and found in possession of 21 grams of cocaine in 11 plastic pouches. His sentence was reduced to 10 years upon appeal, after he claimed the illegal drug was for personal use and was not for resale purposes. Last year, he launched an online campaign calling for his release and has issued a song entitled ‘Save My Life’. Recorded while in prison in Dubai, the
