A second Irish man is facing cyber-crime charges in the UAE over 'threatening' emojis he sent to a person living in Dubai.
Stuart Quiney is the second Irish man to be arrested upon arrival in the UAE for 'cyber-crime' offences this year, after Craig Ballentine was met with the same scenario earlier this year.
Mr Quiney, who is originally from County Wicklow, was arrested in September after arriving in Dubai for a short trip.
The 39-year-old previously lived in Dubai in 2022 and sent the texts containing ‘threatening’ emojis last year while he was back living in Ireland.
"Diplomatic conversations"
Detained in Dubai CEO and human rights advocate Radha Stirling said Mr Quiney is still awaiting a court date.
“[We] met with prosecutors today and there's no date for the court, so it could be any time, it could be in three months, or it could be next week,” she said.
“We're hoping that it's going to be sooner rather than later and that he can actually come home for Christmas.”
Ms Stirling said the Irish Government could step in and “have those diplomatic conversations with the UAE, as they have in other cases”.
Legal action
Mr Quiney was taking legal action against a Belgian man, who he claims took his belongings from an apartment in Dubai in 2022, when the texts were sent.
“The Belgian accuser, in this case, went into the apartment without permission and seized all of his personal possessions, of which there were some items in there, very important and sentimental to him from his late grandmother,” Ms Stirling said.
“He'd been pursuing the Belgian from Ireland, sending him lots of legal letters asking for his personal property back, but he was completely ignored.”
Second Irish man
This is the second case of an Irish man being arrested for ‘cyber-crimes’ upon returning to Dubai this year.
Craig Ballentine, a 33-year-old Tyrone man, who posted online relating to a dog grooming centre in Dubai was arrested on arrival to Abu Dhabi airport.
He could face up to two years in prison under the UAE’s cyber-crime law.
Earlier this year, Detained in Dubai urged people going to Dubai to check their police status before travelling.
Additional reporting by Molly Cantwell.
Main image: A man sits at a computer and types on a keyboard. 29 April 2020 Photo: Nicolas Armer/dpa
