LEFT HIGH AND DUBAI
Scot Jamie faces three years in jail for brushing past a man in a bar
AN ELECTRICIAN is facing three years in a Dubai jail on an indecency charge – for touching a man’s hip.
Jamie Harron, 27, says he only touched the man to avoid bumping into him in a crowded bar and spilling his drink.
But he was thrown into a squalid jail for five days and is
now stranded in the Gulf state awaiting trial. Jamie, from Stirling, has already spent more than £32,000 in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the case. It arose from an incident in June when he stopped over in Dubai for two days on his way back to work in Afghanistan. Distraught Jamie, who has now lost his job through his absence, said: “I am really stunned it has gone this far. “I have witnesses who are willing to present themselves in court, even the bouncer at the bar.
“I cannot believe I am facing these allegations when I followed the laws in their entirety.”
Jamie added that he also feared he could be arrested for failing to attend a hearing on Sunday – which his lawyers were not told about.
He said: “Of course, if I had known there was a change in the court date, I would have been there.
“I have been waiting for months and now it looks as though I will be arrested when I go to the hearing.”
Jamie said after he was arrested and flung in the Al Barsha prison, he had no idea of the charge at first.
He was crammed into a foulsmelling cell with eight other men and only one mattress.
A prosecutor later told him that he had been charged with drinking alcohol and public indecency. Tourists who drink at licensed venues in Dubai can still be arrested for having alcohol in their system.
Radha Stirling, CEO of British-based organisation Detained In Dubai, said: “Jamie is under immense stress. He has been advised by his lawyer he is at high risk of being jailed for up to three years.
“This is another example of how vulnerable tourists are in Dubai and how drawn-out and disorganised proceedings are.
“The English High Court ruled against extradition to the UAE based on the ‘very real risk of unfair trials and torture’ but the UK Government refuse to increase warnings, largely due to their financial and diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates.”
Jamie’s case follows that of Edinburgh plasterer Billy Barclay, who was detained in Dubai over an alleged fake banknote.
He returned home on Thursday after international outrage at his detention.