Innocent British man held for over a YEAR at police station WITHOUT charge pleads to be bailed or se

First Press Release respecting unfair detention of British National Nico Consari.

British National Nico Consari has been held in Dubai without charge for over a year police case Case: 2015 / 58091), and no one knows why. He was accused of misappropriating funds from a company he does NOT work for, and to which he has no connection whatsoever. The alleged crime does not fall under the national security laws which enable the police to detain suspects indefinitely, so why has Mr. Consari remained so long in detention without ever being charged?

"The entire situation is an outright violation of my human rights" - Nico Consari

He has requested bail several times from the Chief Prosecutor, Mr. Khalifa Al Darmaki, but has been denied every time. A judge granted bail back in July, but the prosecution has continued to refuse his release. According to UAE regulations, a suspect cannot be detained during investigation for longer than about 3 weeks. Proving that Mr. Consari had no connection with the company from which the funds were misappropriated, indeed, that Mr. Consari had no access to even commit the alleged crime, doesn't require more than a few minutes of investigation, yet he has been detained since 2015.

Mr. Consari worked for Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Sultan Al-Nahyan as his business development advisor. Sheikh Sultan is the chairman of Gold Holdings Ltd which owns Gold AE, the company from which funds were stolen. But Mr. Consari himself had no connection to Gold AE; he was not involved in their operations or management in any way, and he had no access to the company's accounts. This has been amply evidenced for the Public Prosecutor, and Sheikh Sultan has even not only requested Mr. Consari's release, but has also filed a case against those whom he feels are the actual culprits responsible for the misappropriation of Gold AE's funds. It is simply inexplicable that Mr. Consari continues to be detained.

"It is simply unacceptable, and indeed, illegal, to detain him any longer.” - Radha Stirling, CEO at Detained in Dubai

"We understand that several of Gold AE's clients have lost their money and that fraud has been committed by individuals working for the company," says Radha Stirling, founder and CEO of Detained in Dubai. "However, no matter how many people file complaints in this regard, Mr. Consari had no connection to the company and his innocence is clear. Had the prosecution actually charged him, and were he allowed to contest the charges in court; there is no doubt that he would have been released long ago."

It is a violation of the UAE's own procedures to detain Mr. Consari without charge for this long, and a violation of his human rights according to Stirling. "We call upon Mr. Khalid Al Darmaki to either dismiss the case against Nico Consari, as it is completely lacking in merit; or to at least cede to the judge's order to grant bail, as his employer, Sheikh Sultan has already pledged to act as his guarantor," Stirling says. "It is simply unacceptable, and indeed, illegal, to detain him any longer.”

Mr Consari said to Detained in Dubai “This entire situation is an outright violation of my human rights. I have been held without charge at a police station for more than a year. I have provided all of the evidence to the prosecution to clear my name but they continue to hold me here. I can not understand why the Prosecutor has not abided by the orders of the Judge to give me bail and how this is allowed to happen? I came to Dubai to work and have done nothing wrong but no matter how many applications my lawyers make and how many bail orders the Judge grants, the prosecution is not letting me go and it is inexplicable! The police stations are not designed to hold people for such durations and I am in horrible conditions, my health is suffering. If they would just give me a Court date, I would be acquitted but they won´t charge me and they won´t bail me. How can this go on for over a year? I am desperate for the government to intervene and I am begging the UK Consulate to get involved. This is not a “legal process” that they can’t intervene in. It is an illegal process. I am being wrongfully detained and this is a clear violation of human rights agreements”.