UAE As Oceania
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bad Decisions, Drugs, Religion, The WorldThe story of a guy being imprisoned for 4 years because a piece of cannabis less the size of single grain of sugar was found beneath his shoe has gained international attention. And rightly so. Because not only can you get imprisoned for craziness like that, but the UAE also reserves the right to test your blood, and if you’re “carrying” any illegal substances, well, get ready for some grief.
The warning was issued by the charity Fair Trials International, which assists people facing trials abroad, following a spate of arrests of visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The charity’s chief executive Catherine Wolthuizen said: “We even have reports of the imprisonment of a Swiss man for ‘possession’ of three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow.â€Among the Britons arrested recently in Dubai for carrying banned substances is Grooverider, a Radio 1 DJ, who is facing up to four years in prison after Dubai customs officials reportedly found a small amount of cannabis in his record collection. His case has been adjourned until later this month.
In another case, a 43-year-old man from Middlesex was imprisoned earlier this week for four years after Dubai customs officials used highly sensitive screening equipment to detect 0.003g cannabis in the tread of his shoe. Keith Andrew Brown was stopped in transit from Ethiopia to London last September. The amount of the drug found on his shoe would not be visible to the naked eye and weighs less than a single grain of sugar.
Unlike many countries, the UAE will also arrest travellers found with traces of banned substances in their bodily fluids. Ms Wolthuizen said: “What many travellers may not realise is that they can be deemed to be in possession of such banned substances if they can be detected in their urine or bloodstream, or even in tiny, trace amounts on their person.”
I actually thought Dubai might be kind of a cool place to visit, given all the recent construction and interesting architecture. Now, not so much. Sounds like a George Orwell nightmare.
This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 and is filed under Bad Decisions, Drugs, Religion, The World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 8th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
PLEASE AVIOD DUBAI
We must boycott this nation, as when a million UK tourists don’t show up, maybe the authorities will stop this nightmare.
Even prescription drugs bought fron HEATHROW WILL GET YOU 4 YEARS.
AGAIN, AVIOD DUBAI. Poppy seeds on your top from a bread roll?
Four years? Thank You Sir.
THIS IS NO JUSTICE.
AVOID TRAVELLING TO OR THROUGH DUBAI.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:02 am
No need to evoke the moral ‘n political imagination of Orwell — this is Sharia law and, I guess, if Dubai wishes to shoot itself in the foot in terms of international tourism that is their choice. It doesn’t make a great deal of sense given the money they have sank into the place to appeal to westerners. Well I guess that is what happens with the moral hazard of easy petroleum revenues bangs up against the strict Islamic nuttiness. I was looking forward to going, but now I’ll have to scrub my body with a brillo pad to feel safe.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
IN YUR FACE JUSTIN!! BWAHAHA! You all wanted Paul to go 3rd party so you and your overlords in the GOP establishment will have a scapegoat as to why the GOP lost. Now that Paul is (somewhat) out of the picture, the GOP will lose straight up and Paul has nothing to do with it. Paul’s supporters are not going to vote for McCain. Goodbye GOP, I am now a registered independent and will be writing in Paul’s name in the general election.
February 17th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I have done a song on YouTube about my friend – detained in Dubai for the same crazy reasons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M8I8ydkq0g