AN EERIE handwritten note smuggled out of a hellhole Emirati jail by a Brit prisoner claims that he and 15 others were beaten up by police.
The desperate plea for help comes as more than 50 Brits have been arrested in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for sharing evidence of drone attacks, while Iran continues to lash out at the Gulf state.
The note shared with The Sun by advocacy group Detained in Dubai was just two lines, but carried a chilling message.
It claimed that the Brit prisoner was beaten by UAE cops and remains locked up without hope of a trial to clear his name.
One line of the note read: “On my case there is 15 people, we all got beaten by the special police force, the case will never go to court.”
It was smuggled out of a UAE jail and passed to Detained in Dubai on Saturday.
The Sun is not releasing the other line of the note to protect the prisoner’s identity.
It gave details of the packed conditions suffered by those locked up in UAE prisons.
Radha Stirling, the group’s CEO, told The Sun: “A British citizen currently held in the UAE has smuggled out a handwritten note stating that he and fifteen other prisoners in his cell have been beaten by police.”
Stirling highlighted previous cases of UK citizens being beaten up in UAE jails, including Brit grandad Albert Douglas, who was tortured to within an inch of his life in Dubai’s dangerous Al Barsha prison.
She also claimed many of those arrested have bypassed the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), because they don’t think it can help them.
Iran has targeted Dubai and Abu Dhabi with hundreds of drones since the start of the Iran war.
Attacks included drone debris causing a huge blaze on the side of the Burj Khalifa and hitting the ritzy Fairmont hotel on the Palm Jumeirah.
Yet as missiles soared through the skies above the cities, Emirati authorities threatened residents with huge fines and jail time for sharing footage of the attacks.
Repressive rules mean anyone sharing or taking photos of Iranian attacks in the UAE could face up to five years behind bars and be fined thousands.
More than 50 Brit holidaymakers and expats have been arrested in the UAE in a crackdown on sharing negative content about the Gulf state, Stirling said.
She told The Sun: “Dozens of Brits have been arrested under the UAE’s cyber crime laws, likely more than 50.
“But the true numbers will never be known, it could be hundreds.”
One of those arrested is a 60-year-old British tourist who was charged after footage of Iranian missiles above Dubai was found on his phone.
He deleted the videos, but was still arrested – and is now facing up two years behind bars and a huge £40,000 in fines.
At least five British nationals arrested for breaking strict cyber crime laws remain behind bars, officials said.
One of the detained Brits is reportedly a London-based air steward for budget airline FlyDubai.
He is said to have taken a photo of damage after an Iranian drone crashed near Dubai Airport on March 7.
The air steward allegedly sent the photo to colleagues, asking them if the area was safe.
The strict rules led to many British expats and tourists hastily deleting material posted about attacks targeting the UAE, fearing arrest.
The UAE’s cryptic cyber-crime laws
THE UAE’s cyber-crime laws are among the strictest in the world.
People can face huge fines, lengthy detention, and travel bans for social media posts that authorities consider harmful to “public order”, “national unity” or the reputation of the state.
Detained in Dubai warns that the legislation is “deliberately broad” – and in times of war they become even more dangerous.
Almost anything critical of government policy or regional conflict can be interpreted as a crime.
In practice, commentary about regional conflict, government policy or security matters can be interpreted as a criminal offence.
Sharing advice about what to do and what not to do in the country, the organisation said: “Do not assume your home country’s free speech protections apply in the UAE. They do not.
“Do not assume that sharing international news coverage is safe. It may not be.
“Do not assume that deleting a post removes liability. It often does not.”
One influencer who wanted to remain anonymous shared a video of debris falling from the sky towards luxury hotel as he ran through the street.
But after initially agreeing to an interview, he told The Sun: “I’m a bit worried – can I go to jail for what I’ve posted?”
He then went silent, and deleted videos of the strike altogether, before seeming to share pro-UAE propaganda.
It comes as desperate Brits “are increasingly bypassing the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) altogether”, according to Stirling.
She said that few families even bother contacting the FCDO, going straight to specialist organisations like hers or private lawyers instead.
Stirling said that when asked why, families say that the UK government “can’t do anything anyway”.
Stirling claimed that “British citizens are paying the price” as other nations like France have secured the “swift release of its nationals through active, high-level diplomatic intervention”.
She alleged: “The UK, by contrast, seems to treat consular support as an optional extra and easily sacrificed when inconvenient.”
Stirling added: “The FCDO must urgently reverse its apparent policy of diplomatic disengagement.
“Strong ties with the UAE should be used to protect British nationals, not to shield the UAE from legitimate scrutiny.
“Consular access, welfare checks, and meaningful intervention must become non-negotiable. Britain’s citizens, at home and abroad deserve nothing less.”
David Haigh, founder of human rights group Dubai Watch, claimed that he is representing nine Brits arrested for documenting the strikes.
He told the Daily Mail that local lawyers told him of at least 35 citizens arrested in Dubai and a similar number in nearby Abu Dhabi.
Haigh said: “Dubai is a corporation, a gleaming global brand desperate to keep the façade intact.
“So, once tourists and expats take photos of a missile intercept, or a drone strike, they become the enemy.
“They are arrested, vanished, threatened, charged, forced to report their friends, and face years in jail.”
The FCDO told The Sun: “We are providing consular assistance to a small number of British nationals detained in the UAE in connection with this issue, and our ambassador is engaging with the Emirati authorities about their cases.”
The Sun has contacted the UAE’s Foreign Office for comment.
