An Emirates flight attendant remains in custody in Dubai’s notorious Al Qusais Police Station after he was arrested for sharing a photo in a private WhatsApp group of rising smoke from an Iranian kamikaze drone strike on the city.
The crew member is one of at least two flight attendants based in Dubai who were arrested for sharing photos of drone strikes in private WhatsApp groups after police clamped down on any behavior that could damage the reputation of Dubai.
Radha Stirling, founder of the ‘Detained in Dubai’ charity, which provides legal support to expats caught up in the emirates famously opaque legal system, claims the Dubai Police used “electronic monitoring operations” to hunt down the Emirates flight attendant.
The flight attendant had been at home in his company-provided accommodation when he felt the building shake. He looked outside and saw smoke rising from a drone interception and took a photo, which he shared with a private WhatsApp group.
Stirling says the incident occurred before the authorities issued stern warnings to residents and visitors, warning them not to take or share photos and videos of drone and missile attacks.
Dubai introduced strict and incredibly cybercrime laws in 2021, which make it illegal for anyone to share images online that could harm national security, damage the reputation of Dubai, or “undermine national unity.”
After using electronic surveillance to identify that a banned photo had been shared on WhatsApp, the Dubai Police allegedly deployed a specialised team from the Electronic and Cybercrime Department to conduct a technical investigation and track down the account holder.
Once the Emirates flight attendant was identified, he was “lured” to the police station and arrested.
Earlier this week, Detained in Dubai confirmed that a British flight attendant working for FlyDubai had been released from custody and deported back to the UK after being arrested for sharing a video of a drone strike at Dubai International Airport in another private WhatsApp group.
The March 7 attack on Dubai International Airport (DXB) occurred days into the Iran War and after authorities in the United Arab Emirates had warned that citizens, expats, and even tourists faced arrest and harsh penalties if they shared any images of Iranian attacks.
In this particular incident, a drone managed to evade air defense systems, exploding right next to the airport’s landmark Terminal 3 building, which is the hub of mega airline Emirates.
Authorities in Dubai have released few details of the attack, but it has since been reported that an Emirates Airbus A380 superjumbo and an Airbus A321 jet belonging to Saudia Airlines were damaged in the strike.
Despite the cybercrime warnings before this attack, a video of the drone exploding in the close vicinity of the airport was shared on social media and quickly went viral.
The flight attendant shared the video while seeking advice from coworkers as to whether it was safe to travel to the airport for work.
The British flight attendant was eventually released following an intervention from Detained in Dubai and the UK government. The fate of the Emirates crew member is yet to be decided
