British woman held in Dubai over Facebook comment

April 8, 2019
London: A British woman was arrested in Dubai after she had called the new wife of her ex-husband a “horse” on Facebook, according to a campaign group.

Londoner Laleh Shahravesh, 55, is facing up to two years in jail in Dubai and a fine of 50,000 pounds for the insult, the BBC reported on Sunday.

Under the cyber-crime laws in the United Arab Emirates, defamatory statements on social media can attract fine or jail term.

According to the campaign group Detained in Dubai, Shahravesh was married to her ex-husband for 18 years, during which time she had stayed in the UAE for a few months.

While she returned to Britain with her daughter, her husband stayed back, and the couple got divorced.

When Shahravesh saw her ex-husband on Facebook with his new wife, she posted two comments in Farsi, including one that said: “I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse.”

Shahravesh was arrested when she went to Dubai to attend her former husband’s funeral.

Shahravesh’s ex-husband’s new wife, who lives in Dubai, reported the comments, according to Detained.

Radha Stirling, the Chief Executive of Detained in Dubai, told BBC News that both her organisation and the Foreign Office had asked the complainant to withdraw the allegation, but she had refused.

The decision “seems quite vindictive really”, she added.

IANS