My nightmare at being thrown in a Dubai jail for squeezing past a guy in a bar
Scot’s warning of risks to tourists
A SCOT jailed in Dubai for touching a man’s hip as he passed by him in a bar has issued a stark warning about the dangers for travellers there.
Jamie Harron said the one million Brits who visit the state annually should be ‘wary’ of doing so as he revealed he was thrown in a cell with suspected murderers and thugs after a night out in July.
The 27-year-old, from Stirling, was eventually found guilty by a court in Dubai – part of the United Arab Emirates – of indecency and sentenced to three months in jail on October 22.
A day later – amid a media campaign to bring him home – Mr Harron was cleared by the ruler of the emirate, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
In a last-minute intervention, the sheikh made a special order for the convictions to be dismissed with full exoneration and the Scot’s passport returned.
Mr Harron flew home to Scotland last Tuesday and was greeted by his family, who had been advised not to fly to Dubai to support him in case they were also arrested and charged with ‘cybercrime’ for criticising the state on social media.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The whole thing was a nightmare from start to finish.
‘This has ruined four months of my life. I lost all my savings – £60,000 – and my job, and my reputation has been damaged.
‘People should be very wary. The legal system in Dubai is a shambles and if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.’
The ordeal began in July after Mr Harron, an electrician, decided to stop off in Dubai after a stint working in Afghanistan.
He earned £7,000 a month as a contractor for an American construction firm at the Bagram military airbase. He headed out with a friend at around 10pm to the Rock Bottom, a busy American-themed bar in Dubai.
It was there that he chatted to an attractive waitress and said that he became aware that a middle-aged man – Emad Tabaza, the boss of an engineering firm – was glancing over at them.
Mr Harron said that as he moved past Mr Tabaza, he extended the open palm of his right hand to avoid bumping into him, but brushed against his hip.
Immediately, the man took objection and started speaking quickly in Arabic, he said.
‘As I passed this guy, with a drink in my hand, I put my hand out like you would in a pub when you’re passing somebody, it’s just natural,’ said Mr Harron. ‘And I said, “Sorry mate” as I did it. It was a tight gap with the table and I guided my way past him – I just scuffed him, like put my hand on him to move past and not spill my drink or lose balance.
‘He then started saying something, but he was talking a foreign language. I apologised for pushing past him again. It just escalated from there.’
Minutes later, police arrived and Mr Harron was handcuffed and thrown into a holding cell at Al Barsha jail where fellow inmates included suspected murderers.
One of the initial allegations – in an emirate where homosexuality remains illegal – was that he thrust his hand down the man’s shorts and penetratively assaulted him.
Mr Harron said: ‘Of course I never did that – and I am not homosexual.’
He added that the incident may have arisen after he got chatting to the waitress.
‘He was in there before us, and I think he was maybe trying to talk to her before, and then us two young guys come and start chatting to her and having a laugh, and he had a problem with it,’ said Mr Harron.
After several days he was eventually brought before a prosecutor to hear the charges against him.
Only then did he realise he was being accused of a serious sexual assault. Mr Harron said: ‘I was in shock. I said, “Of course I never did that. That man was fully clothed, and we were in a public bar.” That is absolutely ridiculous.’
He says he has no plans to return to Dubai, explaining: ‘The laws there are not great, and people can take advantage. It was my word against his, and it has led to this – it’s crazy.’
Radha Stirling, of campaign group Detained In Dubai, said: ‘What happened to Jamie Harron, could happen to any tourist.
‘The UAE markets and promotes itself as one thing, but has not changed the laws to reflect its desire to become more modern.’
Mr Tabaza’s company, Neuman & Esser, said that it did not wish to comment.
‘It can happen to anyone’