They arrived in Dubai on March 14. for her former husband’s funeral. She was detained under Dubai’s strict cyber crime laws, after her ex-husband Pedro’s second wife had reported Laleh’s angry 2016 social media post. Laleh said it was posted soon after her 18-year marriage ended.
When Laleh and and her daughter Paris arrived Dubai for a 5 days goodbye trip to Pedro, 51, who had died of a heart attack, they were arrested at the airport. Immigration authorities had an outstanding arrest warrant following the complaint made in 2017. Laleh’s passport was confiscated, she won't be able to leave the country. Her daughter Paris was released and allowed to go back home after spending 12 hours in a terrified cell. Laleh claimed she was offered a statement to sign in Arabic but the translation of the Facebook post she wrote was incorrect and the word ‘horse’ was substituted for ‘bitch’
Laleh wrote angry comments on Facebook while in the UK following her husband’s wedding to 44 year old Samah al Hammadi, of Tunisia, in which she called the bride a ‘horse’. Two posts allegedly read: ‘I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse’ and ‘You married a horse you idiot’. When her former husband's new wife, al Hammadi read the post while in Dubai, she complained to Dubai authorities where social media posts can be a criminal offence.
When Laleh and and her daughter Paris arrived Dubai for a 5 days goodbye trip to Pedro, 51, who had died of a heart attack, they were arrested at the airport. Immigration authorities had an outstanding arrest warrant following the complaint made in 2017. Laleh’s passport was confiscated, she won't be able to leave the country. Her daughter Paris was released and allowed to go back home after spending 12 hours in a terrified cell. Laleh claimed she was offered a statement to sign in Arabic but the translation of the Facebook post she wrote was incorrect and the word ‘horse’ was substituted for ‘bitch’
Laleh had since lost everything including her job at a homeless shelter, and has amassed 5,000 pounds in debt having been forced to stay in Dubai for trial, and she is also facing eviction at her British property as she can’t pay rent for her British property while been held in Dubai. Laleh’s sister Laden claimed the family have appealed to the British Embassy for help but were told they could not intervene. Radha Stirling, CEO of human rights organisation Detained In Dubai is representing Laleh, and said Paris is going to write a letter to Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE, in a bid to appeal for her mother’s release.
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