A 23 year old British woman has been handed a life sentence in Dubai following what her mother describes as a “very stupid mistake” in the notoriously strict nation. Ridiculously strict, actually.
Law student Mia O’Brien is currently being held in Dubai’s central prison and she won’t be coming out for some time. She took a cheeky little line of coke. That would have got her a warning in the UK, but in Dubai you get life. They say you all know the rules before you go there. Yes, and they are ridiulously heavy-handed. Taking coke is against the law, but 25 years, come on.
Dubai has been in the vanguard of making the Arab states a more attractive destination for western holiday makers and property investors. Keen to promote a culture of excess with massive skyscrapers, 6 star hotels and beautiful beaches. That comes at a cost, freedom of action, which Mia O’Brien has found out.
Me and my friends will never go there.
