Ahmad Zeidan
“The UAE’s immature legal system should not be presented as an example for young and impressionable minds. We also advise parental caution about sending teenagers or young adults to an environment where youthful exuberance can have life changing consequences" Radha Stirling, CEO and founder of NGO Detained in Dubai
International Education Week seeks to attract thousands of young international students who could be at risk from the unforgiving UAE legal system and associated human rights abuses. Ongoing cases, like that of 21 year old Ahmad Zeidan who is serving a nine year prison sentence for allegedly possessing cocaine worth less than £5 serve as a worrying reminder of how easily a young person’s life can change in The UAE. Zeidan claims, along with many others before him, that he was brutally tortured into signing a false confession, written in Arabic, a language he does not understand.