In the UAE, before you say anything online, you should consider whether or not you would be comfortable saying it in front of the police; because in Dubai, you basically are.. British national Yaseen Killick discovered recently that angry texting can wind you up in jail in Dubai in an instant. After having been apparently cheated by an unscrupulous used car dealer, Killick messaged the man to vent his dissatisfaction, asking him “how do you sleep at night…?” Yaseen was seized at Dubai airport as him and his wife, Robyn, headed home for Christmas 2017. He was arrested and served 3 weeks in prison before being kicked out of Dubai. Because Yaseen’s exchange with the car dealer occurred through

Jonathan Castle, 59 was born in London but raised in Thurso, near Caithness in the far North of Scotland. He made the move to Dubai (like 240,000 other Brits) in 2002 lured by high wages and glamorous living. Until 2010 Jonathan was a successful copywriter in an upscale UAE advertising agency. Like a lot of expats in Dubai, Jonathan received constant phone calls from banks offering him loans. He allowed himself to be caught up in the 'Dubai lifestyle' and accepted some credit cards from Emirates NBD Bank; too many as it turned out. Jonathan fell behind with payments, and then the unpleasant side of the Dubai loan business began to invade his life. Jonathan cut back on his lifestyle; rarely e

Perry Coppins, the 61 year old British national facing years in jail after being arrested for carrying what a customs official thought were illegal amounts of his prescription medications at Fujairah seaport, has been freed after a worldwide media campaign launched by Detained In Dubai. After his arrest, Perry spent 5 weeks in Dubai prison where he was detained without medical supervision while he went through a very dangerous, unsupervised detoxification process, because the customs officials had confiscated the pills he needs everyday. His mental and physical health have deteriorated in the intervening weeks, causing severe pain and anxiety. Mr Coppins had been on these medications all his

Connor Clements, a young British man who was arrested in the UAE for traces of medical marijuana that were left in his system after legally taking it in the UK, has been dealt another blow. Connor has a medical form from John Lycett Green, the founder of Medical Marijuana UK explaining that Connor was legally taking Sativex spray and CBD Oil for anxiety. Mr Green advised Connor to get a stamp from the British Embassy on the form, but so far the embassy has not responded to the request. This is in sharp contrast to the US Embassy which pulled out all the stops to help repatriate debt hostage David Oliver. The young Brit, who had moved to Dubai to save money for his future has already been sen

A 61 year old British man has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates for anti-anxiety medication that is legal in the UAE with prescription because a customs officer believed he had ‘too many pills’. Perry tried to explain to the officer that he had to have enough to last him for his 6 month voyage at sea; but to no avail. Perry is now detained in Dubai and denied not only his medication, but even treatment for his prostate cancer. Perry Coppins, a maritime security officer from Nottingham in the UK has been diagnosed with anxiety and for the last 21 years has been taking Temazepam, Clonazepam and Citalopram prescribed by his GP. Without these medications, like one in ten Brits, he can no

If someone was given a 37 years prison sentence in Europe or the UK you’d expect them to be a violent criminal. This is not the case in Qatar as horrified British businessman Jonathan Nash has discovered.. He has been given essentially life imprisonment for nothing more than bounced cheques. Jonathan Nash, is CEO of Top House in Qatar, he has 27 years of experience in the electronic security systems industry. Top House offers technical, commercial and management services to the local construction industry. As CEO of a company, it is normal practice to write cheques in advance, as assurance of payment in the future. The cheques signed by Jonathan assured millions of Qatari riyals to clients a