{"id":11056,"date":"2018-08-19T15:03:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-19T15:03:39","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2018-08-19T15:03:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-19T15:03:39","slug":"detained-in-dubai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovin.co\/dubai\/en\/feature\/detained-in-dubai\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Detained In Dubai’ Has Proven To Everyone That It’s Not An NGO And Has Lost The Trust Of The Public"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This will about finish our coverage of the ever-unfolding case of the Swedish dentist who seems hell-bent on attacking Dubai in the international media.<\/p>\n

We won’t go into the whole sordid tale, (you can read it from the beginning here<\/a>), but basically she’s worked with a well-known company to destroy Dubai’s reputation in international media – and the tabloids, and even The Guardian, seemed to lap up the press releases on the matter<\/a>, reporting the whole one-sided story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And it has all been facilitated by Detained in Dubai<\/h3>\n

Detained in Dubai, if you’re not familiar with it, labels itself as an NGO – based in the UK, with the mission of (quoting here): “Detained in Dubai is an NGO formed to assist people who have become victims of injustice in the United Arab Emirates.”<\/p>\n

In this statement alone, there are points to disprove.<\/p>\n

It has worked on several high profile cases, including the infamous Jamie Harron case<\/a> of the Scottish man at Rock Bottom detained for groping another man in the busy bar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What previously may have been efforts to blow the whistle on injustices or mix-ups has now become a fully fledged propaganda attack<\/h3>\n

Detained in Dubai has no legal standing or consults – The National<\/a> has verified this on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n

And perhaps where managing director, Radha Stirling and her associates were looking to help educate tourists prior to them visiting the UAE – it’s no longer a friendly warning.<\/p>\n

Previously, it may have been about humanitarian issues, and raising awareness of people’s ignorance, but it has now morphed into an outright slating of Dubai wherever possible – regardless of facts surrounding cases.<\/p>\n

It is also not an NGO – as shown by its registration with Companies House<\/a> as a private limited company.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/figure>\n

Detained in Dubai ltd.<\/h3>\n

Despite its efforts to appear as an NGO – and its intentions to be a humanitarian organisation, it seems to have metastasized into an anti-UAE propaganda machine, spewing out negative PR to any tabloid that will listen.<\/p>\n

And its management of the Ellie Holman case has been the most fictitious and one-sided of all time.<\/p>\n

It simply distributes press releases to UK press outlets in a bid to get attention.<\/p>\n

And Detained in Dubai is rumoured to charge extortionate fees for its services<\/h3>\n

While these claims are unverified, price points have ranged from quotes of AED10,000 right up to AED150,000 for consultation and representation services.<\/p>\n

And that’s without legal assistance.<\/p>\n

Holman, Harron and all these culprits have claimed they spent more than AED150,000<\/strong> (\u00a330,000)<\/strong> on legal fees – a common denominator being Detained in Dubai.<\/p>\n

But this firm, company, LLC whatever you want to call it – does not offer legal advice, rather press clipping propaganda…and simply uses a news distribution service<\/a> to do so.<\/p>\n

Busy journalists looking for quick, dramatic stories would happily pick up a Detained in Dubai scandal press release as it holds the perfect ingredients for a media storm of click-throughs – Western people imprisoned in glitzy Dubai for doing everyday things…or so they’d have you believe.<\/p>\n

Detained in Dubai has three key players (or partners on the website<\/a>)<\/h3>\n