DUBAI: A British woman, Laleh Shahravesh aged 55, was arrested at Dubai airport and sent behind bars for two years and a fined of £50,000 over calling her ex-husband’s second wife a ‘horse’ on Facebook.
Shahravesh was arrested by Dubai officials on March 10 when she arrived there with her daughter to attend her former spouse’s funeral who had died of cardiac arrest, BBC reported.
According to campaigners, her daughter later had to fly home on her own.
After discovering her ex-husband’s new wife, Samah Al Hammadi, 42, through Facebook photos, she went furious and posted two comments in Farsi, saying: “I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse.”
It is noteworthy to mention here that the British woman had married her former husband for 18 years and stayed in the United Arab Emirates for eight months. She had returned to the United Kingdom (UK) with her daughter Paris, after divorce, whereas, her husband stayed there.
Under the UAE’s cyber-crime laws, a person can be jailed or fined for making defamatory statements on social media.
A campaign group ‘Detained in Dubai’ said Ms Shahravesh could be sentenced to up to two years in prison or fined £50,000, despite the fact the 55-year-old wrote the Facebook posts while in the UK.
The organisation said Ms Shahravesh’s ex-husband’s new wife, who lives in Dubai, had reported the comments.
The complainant was reportedly approached and requested to withdraw the allegation, which she had refused.
Ms Shahravesh’s 14-year-old daughter, Paris, has reportedly written to Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, asking for her mother’s release.
