Woman Recounts Her Arrest and Release After a Permit Dispute

Two nights ago, you were actually arrested, weren't you?

I was. It was nine o'clock at night. I was just about to go to bed, and there was a knock on the door, and there were about eight very large men there, and one of them said, "I'm from the CID, and we've come to arrest you. You must get, you must get changed and come with us to the police station." And they sent a policewoman in

who had to stand next to me the whole time while I changed and went to the police station. It was incredibly unnerving because that's when I'm just about to go to sleep.

And I was taken into the police station.

I was there for nearly an hour, and I was, I was questioned. Um, it was very upsetting for me.

I did cry, and he said, "Why are you crying?

We haven't hurt you." And I said, "Uh, no, no one's ever treated me like this before or spoken to me like this before.

I- I've done nothing wrong." And anyway, um, eventually, I think their hearts were touched, and they began to see that I actually wasn't a threat to public safety. So the man eventually said, um...

I realized that the people that organized the situation should have been the ones that got the permit 'cause I said, "I, I just go where I'm asked." And he said, "I'm..."

He said, "I'm not gonna keep you in the cell for the night." He said, "I'm gonna let you go home to sleep in your hotel," but he said, "You must come back at seven AM in the morning, and then there'll be, um, uh, like, I have to talk to some authorities then."

And so that's what I did, but I, I didn't have a very good sleep that night.

But I'm just thankful to God that I did go back to the police station the next day. I had two people that stuck to me by glue.

They weren't gonna let me out of their sight, and one, one of the ladies is really my, um, Middle East daughter, and she said, "No, this is my mother. I am staying with her." It took about five hours, but eventually... We're just so thankful for people that came in to help, and

I was heard by the head prosecutor and two lawyers, and they said, "No, you don't have a ban. You can travel." Um, I'm just thankful to God that it's all over, and now I'm back in Dubai with my husband.

Well, I'm very happy that you're back here safely.

I was waiting, and it wasn't-