A SCOT, Jamie Harron is facing three years in a Dubai jail after he touched a man’s hip while trying to avoid spilling his drink in a crowded bar.

The “cultural misunderstanding” has left Jamie Harron stuck in Dubai for three months facing jail, jobless and in huge amounts of debt.

Jamie, 27, has spent over £32,000 in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the matter while he was also been stripped of his documents.

The electrician, who is from Stirling, was in Dubai on a two-day stopover as he was flying back to work in Afghanistan.

He has been held in the UAE since July 15 on two charges of drinking alcohol and public indecency.

And his family is growing increasingly worried about getting him back home after his passport was seized when he was released on bail.

The drama unfolded when Jamie had a drink with friends at the Rock Bottom Bar in Dubai — a popular venue for young people in the Tecom area of the city.

Jamie and his friend had bought their first drink in the crowded bar when he placed his hand on the hip of man to ensure they didn’t bump and spill their drinks.

Police turned up and arrested Jamie who says he was jailed with no idea of the charge.

He said a prosecutor later told him that he had been charged with drinking alcohol and “public indecency.”

Jamie denies this latter charge, claiming his only intention was to avoid spilling a drink.

But tourists who consume alcohol at licensed venues in Dubai can still be arrested for having alcohol in their system.

This is completely barbaric and hypocrisy at the highest level. Like the Twitter user below said. They sell you the drink and then arrest you for drinking it.

I can not in  the life of me understand why people go to that country. They are a million year behind the civilised world, any country with Islamic and sharia law is not worth going to at all.

I travelled through the airport twice and the second time, I decided I will never buy their airline to anywhere in the world again even if it’s the only flight on the route. The airport staff are very intimidating and unfriendly.

Most visitors are not aware of this fact and a number of British nationals have been caught out by this contradictory application of the law.

Since the initial arrest, Jamie has been sacked from his job in Afghanistan and is now relying on charity from friends for accommodation.

He was due to attend court on Sunday but says the meeting was held in private without his lawyers being informed.(typical)

He said: “I am really stunned that it has gone that far.

“I have witnesses who are willing to present themselves in court, even the bouncer at the bar

READ ALSO: JOHNSON SAYS LIBYAN CITY HAS BRIGHT FUTURE ‘ONCE THEY CLEAR BODIES’“
“I cannot believe I am facing these allegations when I followed the laws in their entirety.

“Now it is possible that I will be arrested on Sunday for failing to appear at a court hearing that neither I nor my lawyer, were advised of.”

After being arrested, Jamie was held in the notorious Al Barsha prison, where he claims he was not allowed to wash himself or brush his teeth.

He said he was left in a “foul smelling” cell with another eight nationalities sleeping on the floor with “one revolting mattress between them all.”

Jamie was bailed, but his passport was confiscated so that he could not leave the country.

He claims he missed the “secret hearing” because he didn’t know anything about it.

Jamie added: “Of course if I had known there was a change in the court date, I would have been there.

“I have been waiting for months to appear and now it looks as though I will be arrested when I go to the hearing.

“It is completely unfair and I can’t understand how I can be sentenced for failing to appear when I was not even informed of the hearing.”

This is a nation trying to promote tourism and showing the world they have a neutral area for foreigners to chill and have some beer but on the contrary it’s a big trap.

Just like the Twitter user below puts it.

How are they going to promote tourism like That? And Western Goverment leaders like Great Britain don’t care about all the happenings as long as they are getting those monetary investment from the oil rich country.

The citizens are sacrificed for monetary and business dealings with UAE, if not for that British citizens should have been warned off going to Dubai a long time ago.

This is not the first or second time it has happened to British citizen in Dubai.

Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained In Dubai, the British based NGO who is leading the campaign to help him, said: “Jamie is under immense pressure and stress.

“Jamie has been advised by his lawyer that he is at high risk of being jailed for a duration of up to three years.

“It is quite outrageous that he has been held in the country for so long already.

“This is another example of how vulnerable tourists are to arrest and detention in Dubai and at how drawn out and disorganised legal proceedings are.

“We have received a wave of new cases of British nationals detained in Dubai and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office need to increase travel warnings to citizens intending to visit or live in the country.

“If Jamie is sentenced to prison, he faces human rights violations and torture.

“The English High Court has ruled against extradition to the UAE based on the ‘very real risk of unfair trials and torture’ but the UK government has refused to increase warnings, largely due to their financial and diplomatic ties with the UAE.

Irony: British government will not deport UAE citizens there because of the risk of unfair trials but allows UK citizens to travel there with no adequate warning.

Twitter reacted to the barbaric islamic laws in Dubai and Jamie Harron situation.

OPINION

Why do they have a bar selling alcohol in a sharia environment in the first place when their religion as they claim is against selling and drinking alcohol.

 Who are the ones working in the bar serving the alcohol, Dubai citizens I guess and the proceeds and profit goes to where ?

They interprets their holy book to suit their purpose.  Some of them will drink and molest women while others will condem alcohol completely.

There are many cases of UK and Western Citizens unlawfully detained or tried unfairly in Dubai over the years but the Western government continue to deal with them for financial gains while such behavior would have attracted serious consequences if there were no financial gains in the middle.

As this Twitter user Lovey puts it – it’s totally ridiculous and insane for any man to go to jail for that.

Another user who works in a bar her self puts it this way that What Scot did was normal day to day thing in a crowded bar.

The Double standard of the western world is unbelievable.

Please help get Jamie Harron home by sharing his stories and helping his family financially with the trials.

PRAY FOR JAMIE HARRON. Pray for him to come back home to his family.