DJ Mag spin-off DJ Magazine Middle East announced details of a new poll for Arabian DJs this week, with an unusually explicit addendum stating ‘no form of bribery or gifts can be used to help gain votes’.
Unlike the UK magazine’s straightforward voting system, prospective DJs are being invited to submit biogs, a picture and a recent DJ mix, from which magazine readers and online visitors can listen to first, before declaring their single unique vote. The winner receives guaranteed press coverage, a gig at local superclub Chi and two Pioneer CDJ1000s, DJ Mag promise.
Details of the competition were revealed just as new registered charity ‘Detained in Dubai’ launched with a hard-hitting statement of intent promising to ‘support foreign nationals who have become victims of injustice in the United Arab Emirates.’
The UK based organisation (http://detainedindubai.org ) was set up by Radha Stirling, a lawyer and friend of UK TV producer Cat Le-Huy, an entirely innocent traveller who was locked up for two months last year after being targeted by customs officials at the airport.
“He was pulled aside for a random search that revealed he was carrying a legal health supplement known as “melatonin”. Melatonin is a supplement that assists with jet lag symptoms and is available legally over the counter in the United Arab Emirates. Regardless, Mr Le-Huy was subjected to a full strip search, urine tests and was, under duress, forced to sign a confession in Arabic, a language he does not understand,” DID explain on one of the ‘case studies’ listed on their site.
“After his tests returned negative for traces of drugs, the authorities decided to run further tests on miniscule traces of what appear to be dirt, found in his luggage after airport.”
“Following a press campaign and fund raising, we were able to raise $100,000 to support Cat’s legal fees. Following a meeting with the prosecution, the case against Mr Le-Huy was dropped entirely. He was released onto the streets of Dubai (literally onto the streets) without deportation. Cat recovered with a friend for a few days before returning to London. Funnily enough, they almost took him back into custody at the airport on his way out,” DID added.
“If you are accused of something, whether you’ve done it or not, whether there’s evidence or not, you can be detained for quite lengthy periods and lose your job and fall behind in payments and spend a lot of money on legal representation,” Ms Sterling told local newspaper the National.
“The core issue is the very low burden of proof needed to confiscate someone’s passport and prevent them from travelling and put them in jail,” she warned.
DID also warn that travellers, including those passing through Dubai International Airport in transit, risk being jailed for drinking alcohol if breath tested, despite alcohol being commercially available on Dubai’s official airline Emirates.
http://www.platinumlist.ae/poll/item.html?id=1 (‘If you are not in the UAE. make sure you click 'I am a tourist' so that you can enter your overseas details . . .’ [skrufff recommended DJs include Charl Chaka and Kennedy])
http://detainedindubai.org (“In a judicial system where the authorities are incentivised for both arrests and prosecutions, it is all too easy for a foreigner to be arrested on arrival at Dubai and be churned through a legal system where the plea of the detainee is irrelevant,” DID warn.
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