Dubai –
An Irish tourist never expected his holiday to end in disaster. It all started with online criticism of dog grooming companies.
Reporting from The Independent UK on Thursday (14/11), Craig Ballentine (33) worked as a dog groomer in Dubai for six months. She was having trouble at work and left a negative review online about the treatment center and her experiences.
He then went on holiday to Abu Dhabi three weeks ago. However, when he got there, he was arrested by the authorities.
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Campaign group Held in Dubai he said Ballentine faced jail time due to the UAE’s cyber laws. Yes, using online criticism is a cyber crime in the UAE.
“Craig was told by local lawyers that there is little chance that the case against him will be dropped,” said Radha Stirling, a member of the group.
“The recently implemented cybercrime law in the UAE is a nightmare for foreigners. It’s enough for a whistleblower to just tell the police that someone posted something offensive or abusive,” he said.
Stirling said that Bail’tain’s parents were so worried that she did not want to give the news. Stirling even asked Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill to issue a statement on his behalf.
“Craig needs to go home and get to work. It is appalling that the authorities would allow such a frivolous crime report to trap visitors in the system,” he said.
“We have contacted Craig’s local representative, Michelle O’Neill, to ask her to make a diplomatic statement to the UAE ambassador and FCDO.”
Before that, the same issue happened with Tori Towey. He was finally free after getting help from O’Neill.
“Hopefully it will help in the same way that Ireland helped Tori Towey come home,” he concluded.
(bnl/wsw)
2024-11-15 16:02:00
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