England: gay man avoids extradition to Dubai

A judge at Westminster Magistrates Court, which deals with all extradition cases in England and Wales, said the UAE had failed to give assurances it would respect Michael Halliday’s human rights.

District judge Jeremy Coleman said: “The trial, treatment and conditions of those accused or convicted of criminal offences in the UAE is still the subject of complaint and is often alleged to fall well below the required standards … Taking into account Mr Halliday’s own circumstances, I cannot be satisfied that he would not be at significant risk.

“The UAE remains adamant that it will not allow prison inspections because the extradition treaty makes such inspections both unnecessary and inappropriate.”

Mr Halliday, 32, has argued that as homosexuality is a crime in Dubai he would suffer disproportionate punishment.

He is accused of stealing over £118,000 from a department store he worked at but has consistently denied any involement.

Over the past five years there have been 43 complaints by British nationals relating to torture or mistreatment at the hands of the UAE authorities.

Thirty-seven of these pertained to Dubai and 19 of these people said they were beaten.

The judge said: “It could be argued that by going to live and work in another country, individuals have to accept the attitudes of that country and the law and practices of the criminal justice system.”

Mr Halliday said in a statement: “When I left Dubai in 2013, I had no reason to believe that the authorities would pursue me on my return. I worked for 13 months as an operations manager in the retail industry. I had to leave for family reasons.

“I have been through a distressing eight months of uncertainty not knowing if I would face extradition to UAE to face accusations that I firmly believe I can prove I am not guilty of. It is not the clearing of my name that I feared.

“It was more a serious question as to whether there was a realistic prospect of me being able to prove my innocence at trial given the UAE’s unfair justice system poor track record in treatment of foreign prisoners and particularly members of the LGBT community.

“Thankfully, after today’s outcome, I can now continue my life without fear of the prospect of extradition.”