Teen asks EU to help Canadian father held in U.A.E.
A Windsor, Ont., teen whose father has been detained in the United Arab Emirates for more than a year will be raising his case with European Union officials this week.
Marwa Alaradi’s trip to Brussels is the 18-year-old’s latest effort to free her father, who has been languishing behind bars since last August.
Salim Alaradi, a 46-year-old Canadian businessman, has not been charged, hasn’t been able to communicate with his family since March and no explanation has been provided on why he’s being held.
“We’re trying to spread the word around the world and let other countries know about this dark side of the U.A.E.," his daughter said. “We’re going specifically to the EU because they have relations with the U.A.E. We want the parliament to know what is going on in those secret prisons.”
Members of Alaradi’s family and human rights advocates are expected to meet with a number of European Union parliamentarians on Tuesday to discuss what role the EU parliament could play.
Alaradi was born in Libya and immigrated to Canada from the U.A.E. in 1998. He decided to return to the U.A.E. in 2007 to run a home appliance business with his brother.
He and his family were on vacation in the U.A.E. when he was abruptly detained by the country’s security services. For two months his family didn’t know if he was dead or alive. They then found out he was being held at an Abu Dhabi prison, though they have never been told why.
Alaradi’s daughter is also still calling on the Canadian government to come to her family’s aid.
“Whoever is going to be the next prime minister, I just want them to know my father is a Canadian citizen and he has done nothing wrong,” she said. “He deserves to come back to his family.”