A rights group on Monday urged Dubai’s ruler to free a British woman who was arrested in the emirate for a 2016 Facebook post in which she called her Portuguese ex-husband’s new wife a horse.
“Londoner Laleh Shahravesh, 55, and her 14-year-old daughter Paris were arrested in March as they arrived at the airport in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates.
“Please assist #FreeLaleh to get home to her daughter,’’ Radha Strling, the group’s chief executive, said in a tweet addressed to UAE prime minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
According to Strling, the whole family is in distress and it is heartbreaking to see Paris separated from her mum right after her father’s death.
“Compassionate intervention is needed,’’ he stressed.
The Shahraveshes had wanted to visit the grave of the ex-husband, who had recently died of a heart attack.
Both were freed on bail and Paris was allowed to return to Britain while her mother was forced to remain in Dubai,’’ Iranian-born Shahravesh said in a statement via Detained in Dubai.
She said she is scheduled to make a second court appearance on Thursday and faces “a fine I can never pay plus jail.”
Shahravesh’s critical Facebook post, addressed to her ex-husband in Farsi, included the comment: “You left me for this horse.’’
“Our staff are supporting a British woman and her family following her detention in the UAE.
“We are in contact with the UAE authorities regarding her case,’’ Britain’s foreign office said in an emailed statement. (dpa/NAN)