Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
The Twitter accounts of a British woman who campaigns for justice for people imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates have been suspended.
The Twitter profiles affected were run by human rights activist and campaigner Radha Stirling, who runs the Detained in Dubai project highlighting cases of alleged injustice and also for changes in the legal system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Her site has been linked with many campaigning projects including working with the Australian Parliament to ensure human rights were taken into consideration when working out an extradition treaty with the UAE.
But she has also been criticised, for example when she claimed a Swedish-Iranian national called Ellie Holman had been detained for drinking a single glass of wine on a flight from London to Dubai.
The attorney general in Dubai claimed Holman had been arrested for entering the country on an expired Swedish passport and deported because of swearing and photographing a government official in a restricted area. Holman later admitted that her deportation was because of a Visa mistake. (https://bit.ly/30tnTFl)
Earlier this month, she was also linked in with a story about a Liverpool air hostess reportedly being held in a Dubai prison after the apartment of a man that she had been on a date with was raided.
Derrin Crawford, 23, who works for Emirates and is based in the United Arab Emirates, had been out for dinner with the man and agreed to go back to his apartment when it was raided by officers.
Twitter did not say specifically which post had caused the suspension and only used the general reasoning saying it was on grounds of “safety, privacy and authenticity”.
In its guidelines, it says this means “you may not deceptively share synthetic or manipulated media that are likely to cause harm.
“You may not use Twitter’s services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behaviour that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience on Twitter.”
On its webpage, Detained in Dubai site says: “Detained in Dubai is considered the international authority on UAE law. We consult to governments internationally on UAE legal issues and assist media outlets in the provision of information from our central repository of statistics and data.
“We have a team and network of highly experienced advocates, consultants, and negotiators to assist you or your company with legal matters, whether you are in the UAE or abroad.
“Our top priority is helping clients secure the best possible outcome to complex UAE legal issues, regardless of how the odds are stacked against them.”
The organisation had not replied to calls or emails about the suspension at the time of writing.
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