A British man has been charged under cyber-crime laws in Dubai for allegedly filming Iranian missiles over the city, according to Detained in Dubai, an organisation that provides legal assistance to individuals in the UAE.
Foreign Office officials are understood to be supporting his family, while Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai CEO, said the man from London was charged along with 20 other people after police found a video of an Iranian missile strike in Dubai on his phone.
Stirling told the BBC the formal charges were 'very vague', saying: 'I've reviewed the charge sheet and from reading it you wouldn't know what they've done wrong. We're seeing more and more people being charged under the UAE's cyber-crime rules.'
Background
Detained in Dubai is supporting the British man, who was detained under a law in the United Arab Emirates that prohibits publishing or sharing material that could disturb public security.
UK-based human rights group Amnesty International said the UAE had 'continued to criminalise the right to freedom of expression through multiple laws and to punish actual or perceived critics of the government'.
Current Conflict
Conflict across the Middle East has entered a second week after the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran, killing the country's supreme leader on 28 February, with Iran responding by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf.
Some of the UAE's most iconic buildings have been damaged, including Fairmont The Palm hotel and the Burj Al Arab hotel, while flights across the Middle East have also been severely disrupted by the conflict.
