Billy Hood - Detained in Dubai over CBD oil

The Lembit Öpik Show with Radha Stirling. TNT's Lembit invites Radha back for a full hour, talking politics & current affairs. Are we doomed with uni-parties in the UK and US?

Gulf in Justice host, Radha Stirling, interviews Mr Zulfi Bujhari, special advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the “most popular PM in Pakistan’s history”. Mr Bujhari explains what led to the ousting and subsequent persecution of PM Khan and his entire party, their families and allies. Mr Buhhari fought to have a wrongful Interpol Red Notice against him removed. He hopes that the higher legal courts in Pakistan will ultimately exonerate Mr Khan of the “falsified” legal cases against him in what is clearly a shocking example of the weaponization of a legal system against their political opponent, the democratically elected Imran Khan. Bujhari says ousting the most popular Prime Minister has set the country back decades, and the international community and allies could have done more to influence justice and fairness in his country.

Interpol Red Notice for a Dubai debt? A Dubai debt collection agency threatened me with Interpol, but I heard that Interpol are not allowed to chase debts. Correct. Chasing debts is not part of Interpol’s mandate, However the UAE (coincidentally Interpol’s largest voluntary cash contributor, having donated fifty four million in one year alone) gets around this law by illegally reclassifying the debt as “fraud.” Interpol does not have to investigate whether the charge is real. They just list the debtor with a Red Notice, and if the debtor passes through an international border, they risk detention while the UAE is asked if they want to start extradition proceedings. Ok then, what is the best way to handle the debt situation? Contact Interpol expert, Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai and IPEX Reform. Detained in Dubai: http://www.detainedindubai.org Radha Stirling: http:///www.radhastirling.com Due Process International: http://www.dueprocess.international Podcast: http://www.gulfinjustice.news Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KH20nwiZKSKEST4EyMHej Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/detainedindubai Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/detainedindubai2008 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/detainedindubai Email: info@detainedindubai.org

Hi, I’m Ian. If you’re looking at these testimonials to help you decide whether or not to contact Detained in Dubai, my advice is to go for it. I was in a tricky situation and was beginning to despair when my wife persuaded me to contact Rahda. She immediately took control of the situation and was a catalyst for everything positive that happened thereafter. My family can’t thank her enough for her indefatigable and ultimately successful efforts to resolve my predicament. Don’t procrastinate, contact Radha. Her only goal is justice and she will selflessly do all that she can to achieve that for you. Thank you Radha and your team at Detained in Dubai - Ian Mackellar. The Times: Ian Mackellar, who was arrested after a row over a noisy party, flew home last week. He tells of his shock at his ordeal. The first thing Ian Mackellar did when he got home on Tuesday was order fish and chips for his family. It was a moment he was not sure he would experience again. Six weeks ago, Mackellar, 75, was facing jail in Dubai after a dispute about a noisy New Year’s Eve party. He was running out of medicine for his heart condition, and his wife, Carol, feared he would not survive a prison sentence. Mackellar was finally allowed to fly home to Aberdeenshire last week after receiving support from lawyers at the legal organisation Detained in Dubai. Radha Stirling, the human rights lawyer who founded Detained in Dubai, said she was pleased the Dubai government had intervened in Mackellar’s case but that his dealings with the Emirati authorities should be seen as a “warning” to Britons. The Mackellars had flown to the United Arab Emirates in November to help their 43-year-old daughter move into her new home. They returned again in December. Late on New Year’s Eve, a neighbour’s party music was keeping their 18-month-old granddaughter awake. Mackellar, holding the screaming girl in his arms, approached the participants in their front garden to ask if they could move indoors. He received an aggressive response, with several partygoers pushing him and knocking the child’s bottle out of his hand. Mackellar said the hostess, a Lebanese woman, threw a drink over him and his granddaughter, leaving them “soaked”. Stirling said Mackellar’s case should serve as a warning to Britons travelling to or living in the UAE that the police “automatically prosecute on the basis of a verbal complaint made against British citizens, usually for vindictive or extortion reasons”. There have been several high-profile instances in recent years of Britons being held in Dubai. Jamie Harron, from Stirling, Perthshire, was arrested in 2017 for “public indecency” after touching a man on the hip to avoid spilling a drink in a crowded bar. His case was expedited after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the emirate’s ruler, ordered him to be freed. Stirling said of Mackellar’s case: “I am thankful that the Dubai government intervened in what was clearly a trivial matter that never should have escalated to the point where Ian risked over a year in prison. Most [foreign nationals] who are accused of a crime face months waiting for a court date, unable to return home or resume work, as well as suffering costly legal and hotel bills. If they are found guilty, which is usually the case, regardless of evidence, they will then face many months more of entanglement in the legal appeals process.” Full article here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/facing-jail-in-dubai-was-hell-but-im-going-back-in-two-weeks-zwwmmq00b Detained in Dubai: http://www.detainedindubai.org Radha Stirling: http:///www.radhastirling.com Due Process International: http://www.dueprocess.international Podcast: http://www.gulfinjustice.news Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KH20nwiZKSKEST4EyMHej Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/detainedindubai Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/detainedindubai2008 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/detainedindubai Email: info@detainedindubai.org

Scottish grandfather’s Christmas visit to Dubai ends in nightmare A 75 year old Aberdeenshire grandfather has been accused of trespass after complaining of Dubai neighbour’s party noise while looking after infant grandchild. Ian Mackellar has supported his family for years. This has involved extensive travel to Australia to assist with his children and grandchildren. His daughter moved to Dubai to take on a new job that would support her child. Ian and his wife quickly booked a flight to meet her and babysit while she established herself. One of his daughter’s neighbours hosted a New Year’s Eve party. His daughter had to begin work in the early hours of the morning and with an 18 month old, they asked the host to be mindful of sleeping babies and early risers. It was impossible to sleep, and at almost 1am, they messaged the host asking if she could turn the music down, but it seemed to become louder. Ian’s daughter needed to get up at 05:30 for work and decided to go around to her neighbour’s house and ask them to turn it down. Ian offered to do so instead, taking his granddaughter with him as she was awake. He wanted to give his daughter a chance to resume sleep. Ian knocked on the door but nobody responded. He decided to head down the open side path to the garden where he could see guests in attendance. Ian asked if they could move the party indoors. It was late and they needed sleep. He was met with an unexpected response when multiple guests at the party started pushing him backwards, causing him to stumble. The guests were shouting at him and filming him. The baby’s milk bottle was knocked to the ground. 2-3 male guests tried to diffuse the situation, holding back some of the more aggressive male guests. They advised Ian to leave and he gladly did. Ian had made his way to the street when the host ran up to him screaming and swearing. Shockingly, she threw a drink over the baby. Ian told her it was “unacceptable” and he would report it to the police. His daughter didn’t want to report it to the police, given she was new to the neighbourhood. She took her daughter to bathe her and change her saturated clothes. “It is standard practice in Dubai to preemptively file a police report when at risk of being reported”, explains Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai. “The prosecution tends to side with whomever makes the first police report, so if someone is at risk of being reported themselves, they will quickly file against the actual victim. This is how people familiar with Dubai justice manipulate the system to their advantage.” The neighbour filed a police complaint against Ian for “trespass”, resulting in a travel ban and potentially several years in prison. “It is commonplace for foreigners in this situation to offer financial compensation to their accuser in order to drop the case”, added Stirling, “authorities in Dubai need to crack down on this blatant abuse of criminal justice system. The practice is systematic and will require significant legislative change to stamp it out completely”. Stirling has reached out to Ian’s MP, Andrew Bowie for assistance. Detained in Dubai has helped more than 20,000 people over the past 16 years. A number of Scots have faced arrest and detention in the Gulf over the past decade, including the well known cases of Brian Glendinning, Conor Howard, Billy Barclay and Jamie Harron. “It’s imperative that parliamentary representatives support their constituents where they face injustice. We’re seeing more and more MP’s demanding action from the FCDO and foreign ministry counterparts in countries like the UAE, Qatar and Saudi.” Ian was scheduled to return to Scotland on the 10th of January but now remains in the UAE indefinitely where he has no access to medical care and where he will be separated from his wife. “This is a very sad situation. Nobody would ever imagine that a polite request to turn the music down would result in a travel ban and criminal prosecution”, says Stirling. “Again and again, we are reminded that a simple trip to Dubai can indeed be a one way ticket. If the case isn’t dropped, Ian will likely end up in prisons notorious for human rights violations, and he simply doesn’t deserve it.”

Miami VIP bodyguard Cornell Whitfield’s family has been appealing for his sentence to be commuted and for him to be able to return to his Miami residence and be reunited with his 2 year old son. “He was just doing his job”, explains his cousin Sarena. Whitfield slapped a Jordanian man on the face who was acting aggressively and threateningly while clearly under the influence. The Jordanian assailant later demanded US$60,000 to drop the case which, according to Detained in Dubai founder Radha Stirling, is “an incentive to open frivolous or fabricated criminal allegations against unsuspecting foreigners”. Whitfield’s cousin Sarena and mother Marysia released a joint video calling for his release. “They have both been extremely worried that he will unfairly spend a year behind bars” said Stirling, who is in daily contact with them.

On today's show, Radha Stirling discusses, what British Tourists - especially what women need to know before traveling to Dubai and The Tierra Allan Arrest and the torture and detention of Albert Douglas. Radha Stirling is a leading human rights advocate, crisis manager and policy consultant, focusing on the UAE and the wider Middle East. She is the founder and CEO of British based organisation Detained in Dubai (which have helped almost twenty thousand victims of injustice over the past 15+ years), Due Process International and IPEX (Interpol and Extradition) Reform. Stirling also hosts the Gulf in Justice Podcast. http://www.radhastirling.com/

Interpol Red Notice Podcast: A British woman was overcome with tears in a phone call to Radha Stirling, an Interpol and Extradition expert who founded the organisations, Due Process International and IPEX (Interpol & Extradition) reform. Stirling broke the good news she had been waiting for last week in an emotional call. The woman had been charged in Qatar for non-payment of a debt which had already been arranged and agreed upon through Qatar National Bank (QNB) and her former employer. She only came to learn of the Interpol Red Notice when she was arrested in Pisa, Italy. Italian authorities informed her that the case stemmed from the financial dispute in Qatar, and that they were accustomed to Qatar misusing Interpol as an instrument for debt collection. Authorities deemed the Red Notice abusive and released her, but that action does not result in the removal of the warrant so she called on Stirling, who has been helping delete wrongful Interpol Red Notices since 2008. In her submissions, Stirling told Interpol, “My client has already suffered detention and legal proceedings in Italy due to her Interpol listing. She has suffered significant emotional hardship, both on the job in Qatar due to bullying and harassment; as well as from her abrupt dismissal in breach of her employment contract. She has made every attempt to resolve her outstanding debt, for which her former employer is legally responsible, and had been informed by QNB representatives that it would be resolved without anything further required from her. Interpol is increasingly being abused by Gulf States such as Qatar and the UAE, even where they know the Notices will not ultimately stand; which is precisely what occurred in this case. Qatar applies minimal checks and balances when listing a party, which has left Interpol’s databases open to abuse by individuals and institutions”. Commenting on the case, Stirling divulged “My client was extremely distressed after being arrested in Italy. Her life has been on hold and it has drastically affected her mental health, as well as her financial and employment situation. She had been desperate to travel for work and had no idea whether she would be arrested again or potentially even extradited. “Banks in the Middle East have been using Interpol as a mechanism for debt collection for years, but the risk is especially heightened since Qatar’s large donations in 2018. “Expats and tourists who have worked in or visited Qatar, must remain vigilant. Qatar’s abuse of Interpol has led to unprecedented arrests of innocent victims during their travels in Europe and further afield. Many of these victims have spent months in prisons while fighting extradition”. If you suspect you may be at risk of an Interpol Red Notice, please contact us for confidential, expert advice. https://www.radhastirling.com/ https://www.ipexreform.com/ https://www.interpolrednotice.com/ https://www.dueprocess.international/