Dubai court incarcerates UK trio on drug charges amid torture claims
A UAE court has sentenced 3 Britons to jail for possessing illegal drugs after UK PM David Cameron voiced concerns over police torture allegations. The trio has pleaded not guilty, and claimed they were tortured by Emirates police.
The three Londoners – Karl Williams, Grant Cameron and Suneet
Jeer – will be jailed for four years and then deported from the
United Arab Emirates. The men were taken into custody by the police
last July while they were on holiday.
Officers said the men were carrying ‘spice,’ a synthetic form of
cannabis, in their rented car and accused them of possession with
intent to distribute.
The Britons have denied the charges, and claimed they were
tortured by Emirate police who forced them to sign confessions
written in Arabic, a language none of them understand.
Grant Cameron was reportedly separated from the other two men
after being apprehended in the desert, tasered, and told he was
going to die, according to UK press reports. All three were then
allegedly taken back to their hotel where they were tortured
individually.
"For 45 minutes they were tasered, beaten around the head and
handcuffed before they were taken back to the hotel where Grant was
staying. They were put in separate rooms and had guns held to their
heads. They were told they would be killed and told they would
never see their families again,” Cameron’s mother told the
Press Association in a statement.
A formal complaint was made to the UK Foreign Office last year
appealing for an independent investigation into the allegations of
torture. UAE authorities denied the men’s accusations after Officer
Osman Ali Abdulla, who participated in the arrest, said in a court
hearing in March that they had been treated well and were not
abused.
Prior to the UAE’s ruling, UK Prime Minister David Cameron
addressed the case in a letter to Reprieve on Sunday, expressing
concern over the authorities’ failure to organize an independent
medical investigation.
"We continue to press for evidence for a full, impartial and
independent investigation into the allegations. The absence of an
independent medical examination remains a concern,” Cameron
wrote.
Cameron said he would discuss the issue during his meeting with
UAE leader Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a state visit
on Wednesday.
The British Foreign Office said it has provided consular
assistance to the three men after they were taken into custody in
the summer of last year, and raised the torture allegations at
“the most senior levels.”
The UK and the UAE enjoy a lucrative defense partnership. Last
year, Prime Minister Cameron sealed a deal to sell around 60
Typhoon fighter jets to the Gulf nation in a multi-billion-pound
agreement.