Campaigners' warning to Scots over trips to Dubai
The UK Foreign Office insists most tourist visits to the Gulf State are 'trouble-free'
Last updated 23rd Oct 2017
Campaigners who helped secure the release of a Scottish electrician jailed in Dubai say anyone travelling there needs to know the risks.
27-year-old Jamie Harron, who's from Stirling, was sentenced to three months in jail yesterday on charges of public indecency.
However, he's since been told he's free to leave and can collect his passport after the emir of the city intervened in the case.
David Haigh - who's the joint managing partner of UAE criminal advisory practice Stirling Haigh - says those planning to travel there need to be aware of the laws in place.
He said: "If you go to Dubai and you drink, you're breaking the law. If you go to Dubai with your girlfriend or boyfriend and you share a room - but you're not married - you're breaking the law. If you hold their hand in public, you're breaking the law.
"These are all things, when you see these fantastic marketing campaigns, they don't mention. But we see it happening time and time again.
"One or two people are fortunate enough that they get media interest in their case that they get to go home. We've got to think about the thousands of others though that don't get that attention.
"There's so many Brits there now that have been jailed for very similar things. There's an English gentleman there at the moment: 27 years for a bounced cheque."
Jamie has been held in Dubai since July after he was arrested for touching the hip of another man in a busy bar - an incident he insists was a cultural misunderstanding.
Radha Stirling, from NGO Detained in Dubai, has been working to secure Jamie's release.
She said: "Social media has been going crazy over Jamie. The public has been very supportive and outraged at his treatment.
"People were cancelling flights to Dubai and it was a PR nightmare for them."
Jamie is just the latest in a long line of Brits being caught up in the Gulf State's legal system.
Jamil Ahmed Mukadam, from Leicester, was detained for five weeks after using a rude gesture in traffic.
Billy Barclay - a plasterer from Edinburgh - was arrested in September after accidentally trying to exchange a counterfeit note the previous year.
On its website, the UK Foreign Office insist that of the 1.5 million visits by British tourists each year, the majority are 'trouble-free'.