Daughter of woman held in Dubai over Facebook posts pleads for her release

The daughter of a British woman who is being held in Dubai over a Facebook post which labelled her ex-husband’s new wife a “horse” has pleaded to the ruler of the country for her mother's release.

Paris Shahravesh, the 14-year-old daughter of Laleh Shahravesh, has written to Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum asking for her mother’s safe return.

Ms Shahravesh was arrested at Dubai airport last month after visiting the country to attend her ex-husband's funeral.

She was with her daughter, Paris, for the funeral of 51-year-old Pedro who died of a sudden heart attack last month, according to Detained in Dubai, the campaign group working to get Ms Shahravesh released.

In the letter published by Detained in Dubai, Paris says she has not seen her mother for more than three weeks and is losing hope.

“I have not seen my mother in 23 days, and with every passing day, I feel less hopeful of her return,” Paris writes in the letter.

“I ask kindly: please, please return my mother’s passport, and let her come home.”

Paris returned to the UK alone after her mother was detained by Dubai authorities.

Her letter comes amid speculation Pedro's new wife, Samah Al Hammadi, from Tunisia, who reported the Facebook posts is considering dropping the charges, Detained In Dubai said.

Ms Shahravesh faces two years in jail and a £50,000 fine for Facebook posts allegedly written three years ago when she discovered her ex-husband had remarried.

In one post, she wrote: "I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse."

In another comment she said: "You married a horse you idiot."

The posts were written while Ms Shahravesh was in the UK but under UAE’s strict cyber-crime laws, a person can be jailed or fined for making defamatory statements on social media.

• British woman faces jail in Dubai over Facebook post, campaigners say

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Ms Shahravesh's posts, written in Farsi, were reported by Pedro's new wife, Samah Al Hammadi, from Tunisia, Detained In Dubai said.

However Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai, said the complainant is considering retracting her statement out of respect for Paris.

Ms Stirling said: "We are delighted to hear that the complainant is considering dropping the charges, however it should never have become such an issue because the Dubai prosecution should not have allowed it to escalate as far as it has."

In her letter to Sheikh Mohammed, Paris said her crying mother was “yelled at by police” and forced to sign a document in Arabic, which she did not understand.

She added: "I cannot emphasise enough how scared I felt, especially after losing my father just a week before, as I was having to worry about losing my mother as well.

"Yet even though I felt terrified on the day that we arrived, the sick feeling in my stomach only became worse."

“I had to leave Dubai without my mother, and without the closure that I had wished to gain from attending my father’s funeral in Dubai.”

Ms Shahravesh must remain in the country and faces further court proceedings on Thursday.

A Foreign Office spokesman said its staff are supporting a British woman and her family following her detention in the United Arab Emirates.

The spokesman added: "We are in contact with the UAE authorities regarding her case."