Thursday, February 21, 2013

British tourists 'tortured' in Dubai by police

(Independent) Three British men have claimed they were beaten and electrocuted after being imprisoned in Dubai for possession of a cannabis substitute, the latest in a string of expatriates and holidaymakers to fall foul of the law in the United Arab Emirates.

Grant Cameron and Karl Williams, from London, and Suneet Jeerh from Essex, were arrested during a holiday to the country seven months ago. The men, all aged 25, say they were threatened and beaten before being forced to sign documents in Arabic – a language that none of them understands – while one told the UK charity Reprieve that security officers administered electric shocks to his testicles. Dubai Police denied the allegations. [...]

“They kept telling me I was going to die. I was so scared,” he said. “Once I had been knocked to the ground, the police picked me up and put me on the bed. They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute my testicles. It was unbelievably painful.” After the electric shocks were administered, Mr Williams claims that a gun was pointed at his head. “All I could think was that the gun in my face could go off if the policeman slipped, and it would kill me. I started to believe that I was going to die in that room,” he said.

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