Laleh Shahravesh: Dubai 'horse' Facebook post Briton set to go free
A judge indicates a 55-year-old mother apparently charged with cyber crime over online comments is to be allowed to go home.
Thursday 11 April 2019 20:19, UK
A woman being held in Dubai after allegedly calling her ex-husband's new wife a "horse" is to be allowed to go home.
Laleh Shahravesh was arrested a month ago on arrival in the United Arab Emirates, three years after making remarks on social media about her former partner and his new spouse.
Ms Shahravesh was accused of breaking Dubai's cyber crime laws, because of the online "insults".
At a court hearing on Thursday, it appeared as though her case was being adjourned, but a charity which represents her has now said it has heard she will be freed.
It is understood she has been ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 dirhams (£650), after which her passport would be returned.
It is believed she has paid the fine and so she should be home by early next week.
Sources said her family is "ecstatic" and her "daughter Paris is relieved".
Detained in Dubai, which is representing Shahravesh, said all those involved express their gratitude for the outpouring of public support.
Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai chief executive, added: "In Laleh's case, the court issued what amounts to a symbolic fine, but UAE cybercrime laws are still a loaded gun pointed at the head of anyone using the Internet.
"Anyone exercising their freedom of speech, who lives in, visits, or indeed, who may ever step foot in the UAE is at risk.
"We maintain that the case against Laleh should have been dismissed at the outset, and while we are pleased that her nightmare is over, her conviction on this absurd case sets a dangerous precedent.
"We are pleased that Laleh will be allowed to return home to be reunited with her daughter Paris; but serious concerns remain regarding the many risks for foreigners in the UAE."
Shahravesh and her 14-year-old daughter Paris, from Richmond, southwest London, were both arrested at the airport when they arrived in the United Arab Emirates last month.
The pair were bailed and Paris returned to the UK on a flight on her own but Shahravesh stayed on to await trial.
The 55-year-old is said to have made the comments in 2016 when she saw photographs on Facebook revealing her ex-husband, a Portuguese man called Pedro, had remarried in Dubai. His new wife was a Tunisian woman.
The charity worker wrote on Facebook in the Persian language Farsi: "Khak bar sareh bishooret! Lanat be to. Mano vell kardi Barayeh in asbbb (I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse)."
She said she made a second post that read: "Ba yek horse aroosi kardi ahmagh (You married a horse you idiot)."
The new wife complained to the Dubai police.
Shahravesh was married to Pedro for 18 years and the couple spent eight months of that time living together in Dubai, where he worked.
Their marriage broke up after she moved back to the UK with their daughter.
Shahravesh, in comments explaining why she made the posts to Detained in Dubai, said: "After 18 years of marriage, such a small amount of time apart, he was getting married so quickly. He didn't even have enough respect for me to tell me in advance."