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Abdul Kalam Sattaur, a Guyanese businessman, held in a Dubai jail for more than a year,Sweden Soccer Jersey, over the alleged possession of a forged US$100 note, is facing difficulties coming home.He is now claiming that the authorities in the Emirates continue to create bottlenecks in sending him home.This he discussed with Guyana’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Dr. Odeen Ishmael during a telephone conversation on Friday.He was asked by the prison authorities for his passport and ticket in preparation for the deportation. He did so, but since he was detained for over a year, his ticket to Sao Paulo on Emirates Airlines had expired.Still in jail: Abdul Kalam SattaurPrison officials later told Sattaur that his ticket had expired and that he must now purchase a new ticket out of his pocket, to home.Sattaur, in his defense, said he told an Emirati official that the UAE had detained him for over a year which resulted in the expiration of the ticket. He also informed the Emirati official that he has no money to purchase a ticket.Sattaur has been jailed in Dubai since August 2011 and held without a trial.Efforts by the government of Guyana,Joakim Nilsson Sweden Jersey, through its embassy in Kuwait, to speak to Emirati authorities were unsuccessful. After his case was made public in the media,Carlos Pena Mexico Jersey, the UAE then acted.Emirati authorities claimed he was assigned a lawyer and that he appeared in court. According to Sattaur, he never met the lawyer assigned to him. Then in a dramatic move, the UAE abruptly decided to deport him a month ago but to date he is still incarcerated in Dubai.In early October, amidst a number of news reports on the case, an Emirati police officer reportedly visited Sattaur’s cell,Pablo Hernandez Chile Jersey, and told him to pack all his belongings.When Sattaur inquired,Egidio Arevalo Rios Uruguay Jersey, the officer told him that he was found guilty of being in possession of a forged US$100 bill and had been sentenced to a year in prison. However,Felipe Gutierrez Chile Jersey, the officer added, since Sattaur had been in detention since August last year, he would be released and deported.Sattaur had said he is relieved that he will be sent home, yet is astonished over the way “justice” was meted out.He never met the lawyer assigned to his case; never saw the evidence against him; never appeared before a judge to plead his case and,Jacob Rinne Sweden Jersey, curiously, no one ever checked the money he had in his possession, yet the authorities claimed he had a forged US$100 bill.In a case that has been shrouded in secrecy and an apparent violation of international human rights conventions by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), questions have been raised as to the type of justice system that exists in the UAE.Fortunately, Sattaur was eventually able to make contact with Ambassador Ishmael,Carlos Salcedo Mexico Jersey, at the Guyana Embassy in Kuwait,Nicolas Lodeiro Uruguay Jersey, who began monitoring his ordeal on a daily basis.The UAE acted only after this case attracted media attention when it was first made public by Caribbean News Now, and subsequent follow-up stories.According to reports, Sattaur was arrested in Dubai in August last year during a police raid on another businessman’s hotel room in which officers recovered Dh40,000 in fake notes. Sattaur had reportedly said he had arrived in Dubai from Bangkok and had intended to stay for only one night before continuing on to Brazil, where he lives with his wife and children.He had told a diplomatic representative in Kuwait that he visited the other businessman’s hotel room to arrange a diamond transaction and was caught in the raid. |
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