DOHA: The mystery surrounding the arrest of a Qatari doctor in the UAE while he was on his way to Doha from Bangkok late last February is deepening as no charges have yet been filed against him.
Asked why Dr Mahmoud Al Jaidah (pictured) might have been arrested, a Qatari lawyer following up on his case in Abu Dhabi said it was too early to talk about that. Speaking on the phone from Abu Dhabi, lawyer Abdullah Taher suggested in remarks to The Peninsula late last evening that since Qatar and the UAE enjoyed very cordial relations, Al Jaidah could not have been detained without a valid reason.
Taher said that under the UAE’s laws a suspect could be held in police custody for up to 90 days for investigations to be completed. The law authorised the prosecution to file charges after the remand period.
Prodded if Al Jaidah might have been detained for political or legal reasons, Taher said: “It is still too early to say anything”. He, however, added on second thoughts: “It could even be a case of mistaken identity”.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had intervened in the matter, said the lawyer, adding that the UAE authorities were treating Al Jaidah very well.
Taher suggested that because of good relations between Qatar and the UAE, the UAE authorities had allowed two of Al Jaidah’s sons to meet him recently. The UAE’s laws don’t allow that. The sons, Hassan and Abdul Rahman, met their father for 15 minutes in the presence of Qatar’s ambassador to the UAE, Abdullah Al Othman. They were back in Doha now, said the lawyer.
When told that 15 minutes was a very short duration, the lawyer said he didn’t agree because the meeting was facilitated despite the fact that it was not legally allowed to see suspects held in remand in the UAE.
Next week, the lawyer said, Al Jaidah’s entire family, consisting of his wife, sons and daughters, is set to travel to the UAE and meet him as a special concession by the UAE authorities.
Al Jaidah was safe and healthy, the lawyer said, when told that there was talk that he might not be feeling well. “The UAE authorities are treating him very well,” Taher reiterated. Al Jaidah was arrested on February 26 this year in Dubai while he was travelling to Doha from Bangkok. He was shifted to Abu Dhabi. Taher is in Abu Dhabi to follow up on Al Jaidah’s case and see on what charges he has been detained.
THE PENINSULA
