Emirates’ war on information: Seventy Britons arrested in UAE for taking pictures and videos of drone and missile attacks during Iran war – and now face 10 years in jail

The Mail on Sunday has revealed that up to 70 Britons have been jailed in the United Arab Emirates for taking photos and videos of drone and missile attacks.

Tourists, foreigners and cabin crew have been detained in overcrowded police cells and prisons, and in some cases deprived of sleep, food and medicine, for falling foul of draconian laws purporting to protect ‘national security and stability’.

But oil-rich city-states such as Dubai have been accused of imposing a harsh clampdown aimed at protecting their ‘carefully built brands’ as safe and glamorous travel destinations.

Even passively taking images is considered illegal under the harshest laws, which can carry a ten-year prison sentence or a fine of up to £200,000.

The shocking number of British citizens arrested comes from two UK-based campaign groups working with Emirati lawyers.

So many people are being detained that the legal system is clogged, meaning those arrested are held for months before being charged, according to human rights group Dubai Watch.

Some of those arrested were released on bail, but their passports were confiscated and they were unable to leave the Emirate. Meanwhile, if they are foreigners whose work visas have expired, they will be unable to work and face homelessness, campaigners say.

Dubai Watch represents the eight Britons arrested, but its founder David Haigh said local lawyers had told him that at least 35 Britons had been detained in Dubai and a similar number in neighboring Abu Dhabi.

The oil-rich city-states have been accused of imposing a harsh clampdown aimed at protecting their ‘carefully built brands’. Picture: An Emirates plane prepares to land as smoke rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport on March 16

It is claimed that in some cases they were made to sign Arabic statements that they did not understand.

It is understood that access for British consular staff has been ‘restricted or denied altogether’.

The Foreign Office is not automatically notified of all cases and some of those arrested have been advised not to contact the British Embassy for fear of prolonging their cases.

Authorities believe only five British detainees received consular assistance to take photographs.

Last night, Radha Stirling, of the group Detained in Dubai, said: ‘British nationals are being held in overcrowded conditions, denied medication and pressured to sign confessions without legal representation.

‘This is a serious conservation failure. An urgent and robust diplomatic intervention is required to safeguard their well-being and secure their release.

‘These are not criminals, but ordinary tourists, workers and residents acting without malice.’

Among the Britons detained was a London-based air steward for low-cost airline FlyDubai.

Some of those arrested were told not to contact the British Embassy for fear of prolonging their cases. Picture: Smoke at Dubai International Airport after the strike on March 7

It is understood that he took a photo of the damage caused when an Iranian drone crashed near Dubai airport on March 7 and sent it to his colleagues to ask if the area was safe. He was arrested a short time later when police checked his phone.

While a foreign British lawyer living in Dubai is among those arrested, those detained in Dubai are helping the family of a 60-year-old British tourist who is accused of 20 people after Iranian missiles were seen over Dubai on their phones.

Despite deleting the footage, he was arrested and now faces two years in prison and a fine of up to £40,000.

He has been charged under cybercrime laws, but some of the cases are considered more serious national security issues.

Emirati law prohibits anyone from taking or publishing photographs that could “disrupt public safety”.

When an attack occurs in Iran, a text message in both Arabic and English is sent to those nearby: ‘Photographing or sharing security or critical sites or republishing unreliable information may result in legal action and jeopardize national security and stability.’

It was also reported that the police approached people in the area and asked to see their phones. While anyone caught with photos from attack sites is arrested, those who take these photos through applications such as WhatsApp are also tracked and arrested.

Mr Haigh, who was tortured in a Dubai prison, said: ‘Dubai is a company, a brilliant global brand that wants to keep its skin intact.

‘So when tourists and foreigners take photos of a missile interceptor or drone strike, they become the enemy.

‘They are arrested, they disappear, they are threatened, they are accused, they are forced to report their friends and they face years in prison.’

More than 240,000 British people lived in Dubai before the war. About half are thought to have returned home since Iran began firing missiles and drones into the Strait of Hormuz.

The Emirati embassy in London said it had warned people against taking or sharing photos from “event sites”, adding: “The dissemination of such material or false information may cause public panic and create a false impression about the real situation of the UAE.”

The Foreign Office said: ‘We support a number of British nationals who have been detained or arrested in the UAE.

‘We expect full consular access for British citizens. ‘The British Ambassador meets regularly with authorities regarding access.’

‘Nobody knows you’re here’: The shadowy truth of arrests

Tiina Jauhiainen, who was put at gunpoint into solitary confinement in a Dubai prison, handcuffed and blindfolded, was chillingly told: ‘Nobody knows you’re here. ‘We can do whatever we want to you.’

Tiina says this is the reality facing many Britons incarcerated in Emirati prisons.

Held under draconian ‘internal security’ laws, they are denied any consular assistance or even the right to make phone calls.

Dubai authorities have no duty to notify anyone of their detention, let alone British embassy staff.

The Foreign Office therefore has no information about the actual total of British nationals held in Dubai prisons; because the numbers are actually secret.

Even those who are granted bail but banned from leaving the state may not be able to get help from the embassy because Dubai Watch and Detained in Dubai say their lawyers say this could prolong the process.

Tiina, 49, who lives in London but spent 17 years in the Gulf, was jailed for two weeks in 2018. In his case, the story spread all over the world.

Tiina, a friend of Princess Latifa, the daughter of Dubai’s billionaire ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, had helped her escape from her despotic father and sent a video to the press in which she claimed the princess was beaten, tortured and imprisoned by officials linked to her family.

They were captured on a yacht in international waters off the coast of India.

Tiina Jauhiainen was held in solitary confinement after she sent a video to the press in which she claimed that Princess Latifa, the daughter of billionaire Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, was being beaten, tortured and imprisoned by officials linked to her family.

Tiina was deported back to Dubai, held in solitary confinement, threatened with the death penalty, and interrogated for hours about the video, the escape plan, and whether she was part of a larger conspiracy to overthrow Sheikh Mohammed.

He said it was ‘the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life’.

In a windowless cell with constant fluorescent lighting, he had no idea whether it was day or night, and the only thing he used to cover himself was a thin blanket that made him shiver violently.

When he was eventually released without charge, he had to sign paperwork agreeing not to criticize the regime or talk about his imprisonment.

And he faced a veiled threat: ‘They said they found us on a yacht in the middle of the ocean.’

He added: ‘I was then blindfolded and released outside Dubai airport.’

Security services later told him that spyware had been installed on his phone.

‘My message to everyone is to be careful,’ says Tiina. ‘It would be very easy for the regime to eliminate you.’