London, Europe Brief News – The BBC was accused of launching a “propaganda campaign” that “glorifies” life in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Inside Dubai is now playing on the BBC’s iPlayer streaming service, where it is promoted as follows: “Drenched in sun, luxury and excess, what is it really like to live in the desert paradise of Dubai, an ultra-modern tax haven for the super-rich?”
British Detainees Deny
However, families of two British men detained in the UAE have condemned the BBC over its three-part series Inside Dubai.
The families said it is a “propaganda video” that “glorifies” life in the emirate.
Breda Guckion, the mother of Billy Hood, a young British football coach imprisoned in Dubai for 10 years after police found four bottles of vape liquid containing cannabis oil in his car, called the programmes “absurd”.
“How can a series promote the country to British citizens in the midst of what is going on with Billy?” she asked. “He has been begging for a doctor but nobody is helping him. Then I switch on the TV and see this series glorifying Dubai.”
Guckion pointed out that while in the BBC series viewers are told that if you follow the rules in Dubai, you will be fine, her son had been thrown in prison simply for possessing CBD oil – which he says was left in the car by a friend of his from the UK.
“They keep saying, ‘If you follow the rules, you will be ok’. But we know full well that this is the lie that Dubai has perpetuated for years. It’s why Billy went there, because of these same lies,” Guckion said.
Hood, 25, originally received a 25-year prison sentence. Authorities later reduced his sentence to 10 years at the beginning of December.
The statements condemning the BBC were provided to the campaign group Detained in Dubai. It kicked off in 2008 by rights advocate and UAE legal expert Radha Stirling.
Europe Brief News
