BRITON JAILED IN GULF FOR BOUNCING CHEQUES MUST BE FREED, SAYS CHARITY

Safi Qurashi and family

Charity Fair Trials International has appealed to Foriegn Secretary William Hague and Abdulfattah Sharaf, a senior Middle East Executive for HSBC, saying it had "grave concerns about the criminalisation of non-payment of debt in the UAE".

Chief Executive Jago Russell wrote: "I was very disturbed to read the reports that you were in favour of the imprisonment of debtors when debts could be recovered from their families. I am concerned that the UAE government may read this media coverage as support by HSBC for debtors' prisons, despite its prohibition under international law."