Dubai blocks inheritance to girl of mother jailed for insult

A MOTHER detained in Dubai for calling her ex-husband’s new wife a horse on social media has condemned as malicious the decision to strip her only daughter of a £500,000 inheritance.

Laleh Shahravesh, 55, was arrested under strict cyber crime laws in April when she went to Dubai for the funeral of her former husband, Pedro Dos Santos. After being locked up for a month, she returned to the UK and has now launched a legal bid to overturn the ruling of a Dubai court to award Mr Santos’ fortune to his second wife, Samah Al Hammadi, 42.

Ms Shahravesh’s daughter, Paris, 14, was expecting the inheritance after her banker father died of a heart attack in March, aged 51.

But her Tunisian stepmother applied for his inheritance, which was duly awarded to her in full by a Dubai court.

The authorities ruled that the teenager was non-muslim and under UAE Sharia law could not receive an inheritance from her Muslim father. Instead, it authorised Mr Santos’ former employer, HSBC, to award the money to Ms Al Hammadi.

Ms Shahravesh, who was married to Mr Santos for 18 years, said: “Someone told them my daughter is Christian. I am a Muslim and my daughter is a British Muslim.” Ms Shahravesh calculated the worth of her ex-husband’s estate to be around £500,000, based on his £120,000 tax-free salary, his HSBC bonus, pension and benefits.

Defending her actions, Ms Al Hammadi, 42, who runs an archery school, said she had told the court all the correct information.

“The judge informed me that there is no heritage, only from Muslim to Muslim. I am Muslim, Pedro was a Muslim but Paris is Christian. This is not my decision. It’s the court’s decision, according to UAE law.”

The acrimony started when Ms Al Hammadi claimed that Ms Shahravesh, of Richmond, south-west London, had insulted her. Writing in Farsi on Facebook, Ms Shahravesh is alleged to have told her ex-husband: “I hope you go under the ground, you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse.”

Authorities in Dubai claimed that her behaviour on Facebook broke strict laws that penalise defamatory posts made about its residents.

‘The judge informed me that there is no heritage, only from Muslim to Muslim. Paris is Christian’