SIDHRA HASSAN SHEIKH - UAE

September 08

 

Update:
Sadly, we understand that Sidhra’s conviction and 25 year prison sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in early October.

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September’s Spotlight features the case of Sidhra Hassan Sheikh, a 28 year old Kenyan national serving a 25 year prison sentence in Dubai for selling 0.61g cannabis, worth £7. 

Sidhra moved to Dubai in 2006 with her husband and 1 year old baby, after receiving a job offer from a French company.

While in Dubai, Sidhra was prescribed strong anti-depressant medication. She suffered the side effects of these, including loss of memory and haziness.

On 17 August 2007 Sidhra was arrested and charged with selling 0.61g cannabis, after a police informant reported her to the authorities. She was severely beaten by officers until almost unconscious and bleeding from the mouth and nose and was then interviewed without an Arabic interpreter and told to sign documents in Arabic without understanding what they said.

Sidhra was eventually sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. An appeal has been made to the Supreme Court.

Sidhra admits that she has used cannabis in private, but she does not sell it and has no previous convictions. She has no memory of selling the 0.61g and had no money on her person at the time of her arrest. Sidhra accepts that given her lack of recollection, she cannot exclude that she may have given this man the cannabis but a sentence of 25 years in prison is grossly excessive considering the amount involved.

Her case is also in stark contrast to the way visitors to the Emirates found in possession of such quantities of cannabis, are dealt with. They are either simply deported, or arrested and sentenced to 4 years in prison but many are released on clemency after a few months.

Sidra’s husband, father, mother and little sister in the UK are desperately worried about her. Her husband has taken their child to Mombasa, Kenya, to live with his grandmother. Her father, mother and sister remain in the UK, campaigning for Sidhra’s sentence to be reduced.

Sidhra has already spent one year in prison and FTI believes that this is sufficient and in line with the sentences served by others convicted of similar drugs offences. She should be released without delay and allowed to return to her family.

Our Concerns

• Sidra was subjected to brutality at the hands of the police, yet nothing has been done to investigate her complaints.
• The police interview was conducted in Arabic, a language that she does not understand. Furthermore, she was told to sign documents in Arabic without being told what they said.
• A sentence of 25 years in prison in manifestly excessive considering the amount of cannabis involved, 0.61g, and its street value of £7.