Man who brought Dubai indecency case drops his complaint

A businessman who claimed that a Scot indecently touched him in a bar in Dubai has dropped his complaint, it emerged yesterday, but the country’s prosecutors are still pursuing the case.

Jamie Harron, 27, from Stirling, has been stripped of his passport and faces a threeyear sentence over allegations he touched a German businessman’s hip in a bar in the UAE.

Emad Tabaza called the police and claimed Mr Harron had been “very drunk” and “repeatedly” touched him during the incident in July.

It has now emerged that the German businessman dropped the complaint after realising the punishment Mr Harron is facing but prosecutors did not drop the case.

Mr Tabaza, the managing director of global technology firm Neuman & Esser, is said to have received death threats following the incident.

Mr Harron has already been sentenced to a month in prison and fined 2,000 dirhams (£412) for drinking and making a rude gesture.

He is due to be sentenced on another charge of public indecency, in which he claims to have touched Mr Tabaza’s hip to avoid spilling his drink.

Mr Harron will appear in court on 22 October and could face three years in prison if found guilty.

A spokesman for Neuman & Esser confirmed Mr Tabaza has dropped the complaint. In a statement issued on behalf of the businessman, he said: “With a certain distance from the incident and the punishment to be expected for the suspect, our employee decided to withdraw the complaint despitetheharassmenthaving been confirmed by several witnesses. However, according to the typical laws for the country, this does not automatically result in the termination of the proceedings.”

Mr Harron claims to have placed his hand on Mr Tabaza’s hip in a crowded bar to stop his drink being spilled. But Mr Tabaza has given a different account of the incident.

The company spokesman said: “During a private visit to a club in Dubai, one of our employees was touched by the suspect on the thigh several times. Our employee emphatically, but politely, requested the clearly drunk suspect to refrain from this.”

Radha Stirling, head of the Detained In Dubai organisation, who is leading the campaign to assist Mr Harron, described the statement as an “exercise in public relations”.

Mr Harron has spent more than £32,000 in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the matter, lost his job, and has also been stripped of his documents.

0 Jamie Harron still faces court despite accuser dropping claim