British man arrested in Dubai for carrying anti-depressants

dowie

dowie

dowie

Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
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OK this time it looks like an actual case of backwards country/backwards legal system unlike the silly woman who was caught in Egypt.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...oppins-uae-united-arab-emirates-a8143676.html

A British man in urgent need of cancer treatment has spent five weeks in a Dubai jail after he was arrested for carrying anti-depressants, his lawyers have said.

Perry Coppins, 61, was detained at Fujairah seaport last month despite having prescriptions for the drugs, which are legal in United Arab Emirates (UAE.)

The maritime security officer from Nottingham has been treated for anxiety for 21 years and was travelling with enough medication for a six-month journey at sea, according to Detained in Dubai, a campaign group
which has taken up his case.

The not-for-profit legal organisation said that since his arrest, Mr Coppins had been denied temazepam, clonazepam and citalopram, which were all prescribed by a GP.

His “psychological condition [had] deteriorated rapidly” and he had suffered “severe withdrawal” symptoms including hallucinations, weight loss, “intense pain, bouts of blindness and uncontrollable sweating”, it said.

The father-of-three has also been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer which the UAE was “refusing to give him treatment” for, Detained in Dubai added.
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Ridiculous thing here is that the medications are perfectly legal there with a prescription, he had a prescription and the customs officer just thought he'd got "too much" - despite the rather valid reason that he was going to be away serving on a ship... And of course given the culture in these places they didn't want to lose face/back down.
 
dowie said:
Ridiculous thing here is that the medications are perfectly legal there with a prescription, he had a prescription and the customs officer just thought he'd got "too much" - despite the rather valid reason that he was going to be away serving on a ship... And of course given the culture in these places they didn't want to lose face/back down.
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Entering a country with a significant amount of prescription medicine even legal in that country it is still usually a good idea to get it authorised in advance - most travel documentation recommends that.

Personally I wouldn't even dream of going to one of those ME countries without something like that locked down tight - infact I usually avoid places like Dubai due to the backwards laws.
 
 
I am rather confused by this.
If he is urgently in need of cancer treatment, why was he carrying sufficient medications for a 6 months voyage at sea?
Where was this cancer treatment to start? When?
Are the two things completely unrelated and the cancer bit added to make us have more sympathy?

I understand he had a prescription.
He did however travel to a backwards hole and expect things would be normal.
They are not, they never are. he forgot to simply pay the 'tablet tax' to the chap who stopped him, and thus would have passed on normally.
This is how things are done.
 
 
Destination said:
I am rather confused by this.
If he is urgently in need of cancer treatment, why was he carrying sufficient medications for a 6 months voyage at sea?
Where was this cancer treatment to start? When?
Are the two things completely unrelated and the cancer bit added to make us have more sympathy?
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apparently the diagnosis has happened since he's been arrested

ref: the rest of your post, yup indeed he did travel to a backwards country, but the pills are legal there... sure it was perhaps naive to not get himself completely covered by getting something in writing in advance - but people don't seem to realise what these gulf states are like, assume that people who get in trouble just did something stupid etc.. when all sorts of people end up in jail there, plenty of times through having not done much at all... like the bloke released recently after touching someone's hip while trying to get past them in a nightclub etc..
 
Sliver said:
I bet the guy is really depressed now :p
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LOL, bit dark!

Looking at some of the other stories he's been experiencing temporary blindness, covered in sweat, trembling etc.. etc.. I presume as a result of some of that he's been to hospital and perhaps that is where someone has diagnosed prostate cancer - whether some of it has been milked a bit for the press (in the hope that for the sake of publicity the Sheik sorts this one out too) I guess we don't know - but I'd assume if he was suffering from anxiety then suddenly stopping the meds and getting put into a UAE jail isn't going to be too pleasant.
 
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We have been assisting a British man since his arrest in Dubai in November and are in contact with the UAE authorities."
and as everyone knows their assistance means **** all
 
lude1962 said:
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We have been assisting a British man since his arrest in Dubai in November and are in contact with the UAE authorities."
and as everyone knows their assistance means **** all
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FCO consular assistance is pretty much limited to welfare and keeping families informed. They are unable to intervene in another countries legal procedures. The only reason they are contacting the authorities is for SITREP's regarding the case.
 
One of the (many) reasons why I won't set foot in that country or others of a similar vein.
 
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