Woman and child were imprisoned in Dubai because of a glass of wine in an airplane
'14.08.2018'
Source: The Guardian
44-year-old Ellie Holman, a dentist from Sweden who lives in Kent with a boyfriend and three children, was detained with a four-year-old daughter and sent to prison after drinking a glass of wine served as a compliment during a flight from London.
The arrested Holman is forbidden to drink water and forced to clean the toilets, writes the human rights organization Detained, which refers to The Guardian... The organization, which helps people who are being forcibly held in the United Arab Emirates, said it represents the interests of a woman and her daughter, Bibi, who was “terrified” by the experience.
Holman was detained on July 13 after she drank one glass of wine during an eight-hour Emirates flight. An immigration officer asked her about the visa and whether she had consumed alcohol. He said that a woman’s visa would not be accepted at the border and she should return to London immediately. Holman asked if she could buy a new visa, and then she was asked about alcohol intake, which she confirmed. The woman was filming a conversation with an officer on her phone to use as evidence when she was told that it was a crime and that it was illegal to drink alcohol.
At first, Holman and her daughter were locked in a cell, denying water, food, and access to the toilet for three days. Passports and telephones were taken away, and not allowing a woman to call her boyfriend. They are threatened with staying in a Dubai prison for a year awaiting a court hearing. The woman and her daughter flew to Dubai on a five-day vacation to visit friends, and they had already flown to this country several times before.
A statement by the human rights group said that the guards were trying to pull Holman's hair extensions, and she described the prison as stuffy and smelling of dirt. A woman with a child was forced to sleep on a dirty mattress, to wash toilets and floors.
“My baby had to go to the toilet right on the floor. I have never heard her cry the way she did on this floor, ”the woman says. “The food we were given smelled like decaying garbage, and neither I nor Bibi could taste it. I have not slept for almost three days. Now Gary already knows that something is wrong, and flew to Dubai to be there. Friends tried to visit me, but nobody was allowed to see us. And they didn't even tell us about it. "
Holman was released on bail, but her passport will not be given back until the case is closed. The woman has already lost about 38 thousands of dollars for the services of lawyers and due to missed work. Now the boyfriend brought to her all the children who are with his mother in Dubai, little Bibi, he drove home to a quiet place.
Radha Stirling, executive director of the human rights organization Detained, says: “The UAE deliberately maintains the impression that alcohol is perfectly legal for visitors to the country. Tourists cannot be blamed for believing in Emirates' tolerance for Western drinking habits, but this is far from reality. "
“It is absolutely illegal for any tourist to have any blood alcohol content, even if it was provided by Dubai's own airline and the alcohol was consumed in flight. It is forbidden to drink alcohol in a bar, hotel or restaurant, and if the test detects it, this person will go to jail. ”
