Missile strikes on the glamorous Gulf State have been shared widely on social media (Picture: EPA/X)
A British prisoner in jail in the United Arab Emirates over pictures of air strikes has claimed he and his other inmates were beaten up by police in their cell.
Radha Stirling, founder of Detained In Dubai, claims the inmate’s family has shown her his handwritten note – smuggled out of the prison – which contains those allegations.
The British man is one of as many as 70 UK nationals who have been locked up in the UAE for filming Iranian attacks on the Gulf country.
British tourists, expats and cabin crew are being held in overcrowded police cells and could face ten years in jail for breaching laws around protecting ‘national security and stability’.
Campaign groups say the legal system is swamped with cases and some are being denied sleep, food and medicine in detention.
They are accusing the UAE of trying to protect their ‘carefully constructed brand’ as a glamorous and safe travel spot.
Laws in the Gulf State prohibit publishing or sharing material that could disturb public security, and the British embassy has previously warned expats not to take pictures or share images of Iranian missiles.
An Emirates aircraft prepares for landing as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
Those nearby to an Iranian strike are sent a text message in both Arabic and English saying: ‘Photographing or sharing security or critical sites, or reposting unreliable information, may result in legal action and compromise national security and stability.’
Even passively receiving an image is deemed illegal under the strictest laws, which could carry a ten-year jail term or a fine up to £200,00.
Dubai Watch CEO David Haigh told the Mail on Sunday he is representing eight arrested Britons and says local lawyers have told him 35 Brits have been detained in Dubai, with similar numbers in Abu Dhabi.
Radha Stirling, founder of Detained In Dubai, claims that people are being ‘hunted down’ just for liking or commenting on pictures of missile strikes.
The campaigner, who is working directly with four Brits detained in the UAE, told Metro: ‘When people are arrested for sharing a photo or video, officials will go and arrest anyone who that photo has been shared with – such as colleagues or friends.
‘If it has been a public post, they will go and find everyone who liked it, shared, interacted with it and demand to see their phone and arrest them as well.’
The activist clarified that she is not aware of people being charged for liking a post, but said they are brought in and asked to undo the like before being let go.
Stirling said she has received a report that a British woman has been detained for photographing her apartment building after a strike and sharing it privately.
A 20-year-old European man was detained after he took a picture of the burning Fairmont Hotel in Dubai and sent it to his mother to say he was safe, Stirling claims.
Missiles have struck hotels and other high-profile locations (Picture: Matthew McGinn / SWNS)
The campaigner said that an investor and even a multimillionaire are among those in prison.
She also warned about the ‘terrible’ conditions faced by Britons and others in custody, claiming: ‘There are overcrowded conditions. You can barely find a spot to curl up on the ground and sleep. People have not slept for 48 hours.
‘They are being asked to sign what are basically confessions on a tablet, and being told if they sign, they’ll be released and maybe just fined and deported.
‘I have reports of people being denied necessary medication, denied access to the Embassy and the telephone.’
Stirling said the family of a British detainee has shown her a handwritten note from the prisoner, smuggled out by another inmate.
This handwritten note claims the Briton and 15 others in his cell have been beaten by UAE police.
Stirling is directly involved in the case of a British man in his 60s who was charged alongside 20 others and a British airline employee who was detained for sharing a photo of Dubai International Airport.
She said their families were ‘hopeful they will be let out soon enough’ and that they have ‘heard the right noises.’
The advocate claimed that the majority of cases were being escalated from cybercrime provisions to the national security frameworks.
This means individuals face 5 to 15 years imprisonment, fines reaching approximately $500,000, and restricted access to lawyers and embassies.
Dubai Watch that those arrested are facing months in detention before being charged because the system is so overwhelmed.
The Palm Jumeirah Fairmont hotel was hit by a Shahed suicide drone launched from Iran (Picture: Chris Eubank Jr/Facebook)
Others have been released on bail but have had their passport confiscated so they cannot leave.
Campaigners have claimed that some Britons have been made to sign Arabic statements they do not understand.
Access to British consular staff is understood to be ‘restricted or outright denied’ for those arrested.
The Foreign Office is not automatically alerted all arrests and some are advised not to contact the Embassy because it could prolong their case.
Officials believe just five British detainees are receiving consular help for taking pictures.
One Brit being detained in the UAE is a London-based air steward for budget airline FlyDubai.
It is understood he took a picture of the damage caused when an Iranian drone struck close to Dubai airport on March 7 and sent it to colleagues, asking if the area was safe.
Police later checked his phone and arrested him.
An expat lawyer living in Dubai is also among those arrested under national security laws.
Detained In Dubai also say they are helping a 60-year-old British tourist who was charged with 20 others after footage of Iranian attacks was found on their phones.
He faces two years in jail and a fine as large as $40,000 despite deleting the footage.
It is said that UAE police will demand to look through the phones of people close to the site of a missile attack and arrest anyone caught with photos of the strikes.
Officers reportedly track down and arrest people who receive photos through apps like WhatsApp.
Mr Haigh, who was tortured in a Dubai jail, said: ‘Dubai is a corporation, a gleaming global brand desperate to keep the facade intact.
‘So, once tourists and expats take photos of a missile intercept, or a drone strike, they become the enemy.
‘They are arrested, vanished, threatened, charged, forced to report friends, and face years in jail.’
There were more than 240,000 Britons living in the United Arab Emirates before the start of the war with Iran.
The Emirati embassy in London said people had been warned about taking or sharing photos from ‘incident sites’, adding: ‘Disseminating such materials or inaccurate information can incite public panic and create a false impression of the UAE’s actual situation.’
The Foreign Office said: ‘We are supporting a number of British nationals in the UAE who have been detained or arrested.
‘We expect full consular access to British nationals. The British Ambassador regularly speaks to the authorities about access.’
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