The Scot is now celebrating after Middle Eastern prosecutors dropped drug charges following a campaign backed by influential lawyer Radha Stirling and Kenny MacAskill MSP (Minister for Justice). Radha Stirling said the upcoming World Cup in the country forced prosecutors to drop charges in what would have been a 'potential PR nightmare for the state'. She said: "Qatar would not have wished for Conor to be arrested again in another country. "Such an arrest would have raised to

In this new episode, Radha Stirling interviews for the first time, Australian national Joe Sarlak, who has been detained in Doha for many years after being used as a scapegoat by the Qatari royal who was his local sponsor. His sponsor had secretly looted Sarlak’s business to pay for his own financial obligations, leaving business cheques to bounce that would see Sarlak locked up for years in Doha’s disastrous desert prison. With no possibility to defend himself and with no a

Australian Embassy taking care of business, not citizens. Australian national Joseph Sarlak, 69, is not allowed to leave Qatar, and no one knows why. He has been stuck in the tiny Gulf nation ever since 2016 when he was made scapegoat for the embezzlement committed by his local business partner who depleted the company accounts while Joe had cheques pending to suppliers. Those cheques bounced despite Joe making every effort to arrange the funds, and Joe went to jail. He was f

Amnesty joins fight for Australian’s freedom Elderly Australian citizen Joseph Sarlak should have been home a long time ago. Instead, after being released from a virtual life sentence in Qatar after being scapegoated by local business partner, he remains behind bars in an overcrowded, filthy immigration jail in Doha. Sarlak suffers from a number of serious health conditions, and has already endured 3 years without proper medical care in prison. Detained in Dubai has actively

Joseph Sarlak at risk of death in custody as AU govt. fails to intervene on his behalf Spotlight on Qatar human rights: “69 yr old Australian Jo Sarlak phoned me crying from Qatar prison as authorities won’t issue visa to get home” - Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai My morning coffee was disturbed by a gut wrenching phone call from Joseph Sarlak this week, whose situation is highlighting endemic human rights abuses in the next country to host FIFA. While countries like the U

While the footballing community worldwide have rallied against the extradition of Bahraini refugee and Australian asylum recipient Hakeem Alaraibi from Thailand on the grounds that he will undoubtedly face persecution, torture, and possibly death if he is returned to Bahrain; one cannot help but notice something of a paradox in the fact that Qatar is poised to host the World Cup. How different, really, is Bahrain from Qatar? Amnesty International cautions that “allegations of

Australian Parliament ratified an extradition treaty with the UAE in 2011 but included provisions for human rights violations, meaning that if the UAE requests extradition and the requested party is at risk of human rights violations, the request could be denied Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai and Expert Witness in UAE extradition cases, along with Senator Kroger, lobbied Parliament in Canberra to either dispose of the Treaty or to at minimum, to include provisio