Detained in Dubai is a London-based limited company founded in 2008 by Radha Stirling, which states its aim is to help foreigners imprisoned abroad. Radha Stirling is the CEO of Detained in Dubai. Other partners and consultants have included Ben Cooper, Nasser Hashem, Rodrigo Blanco, and David Haigh. David Haigh worked as an external consulting partner with Detained in Dubai from 2016–2018, resigning in 2018 over differences of opinion on the direction the company was heading. Shahid King Bolsen, an existing partner, became involved with the company after Detained In Dubai took up his case in 2012. Nicknamed "The Chloroform Killer", Bolsen continued his association with Detained In Dubai upon leaving prison and is now married to Joint CEO Radha Stirling. Bolsen admitted to killing a German engineer he met online in 2006 and escaped from prison. Bolsen has been accused of inciting violence against Americans and American businesses in Egypt as recent as 2015, calling in to question his ongoing association with Detained In Dubai. According to The New York times, Bolsen is quoted as saying “The idea is disruption without bloodshed, I condemn the loss of life and the use of violence against people,” he said. But, he added, if a few lives are lost to help prevent needless deaths at the hands of security forces, “sometimes it is a price to be paid.”
In March 2018, Detained in Dubai stated that it was representing Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, a princess and daughter of the prime minister of the UnitedArab Emirates who was allegedly taken by masked armed men off a boat near Goa on 4 March 2018., Latifa's location was unknown, but in December 2018, she was reported by Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and friend of Princess Haya, who had lunch with her, to be in the care of her family. Mary Robinson has been publicly criticised by Detained in Dubai and Human Rights Watch. In April 2019, Detained in Dubai attracted media attention to the case of Laleh Sharavesh, a British citizen who was arrested in Dubai for having called her ex-husband an "idiot" and her ex-husband's new wife a "horse" in a Facebook post. According to Detained in Dubai, Sharavesh had risked a 2-year prison sentence and a fine for their "horseplay".
Controversial partnerships and cases
Controversial associations and partners The company has been the subject of many investigations with regards to the legitimacy of their various public claims in addition to their associations and partnerships. Since 2012, the company has employed convicted murderer Shahid King Bolsen as its joint CEO, along with Radha Stirling. Nicknamed "The Chloroform Killer", Bolsen is a Colorado native who confessed to the killing of a German engineer in 2006. Bolsen claimed the incident was not pre-meditated, though the Sharja court says it was a premeditated plan by Bolsen to lure in Steiner and kill him. E-mails turned to phone conversations and Steiner and Bolsen, allegedly posing as the maid, agreed to meet on June 12, 2006, after Steiner finished work. According to the court, he had been told he would have a sexual encounter with an Emirati woman. A struggle followed. Bolsen said he reached for his chloroform, an anesthetic once popular with doctors, that he said he used to help with his insomnia. Bolsen said he intended to sedate Steiner, not kill him. But in the maid Yousef's initial testimony, she said she had stepped out of the room and returned to find Steiner on the bed. She told the Sharjah's Criminal Court of First Instance that Bolsen "said 'do not worry, but say Allahu akbar, for an infidel is dead'." Bolsen is not the only controversial partner in The Detained In Dubai organisation. Another partner, Barry Ley, is the author of controversial book "". The book details intimate details of scams run by Ley and others, and tips for readers to follow. Controversial cases In August 2018, Detained in Dubai stated that Swedish-Iranian Ellie Holman was charged with having alcohol in her blood after drinking one complimentary glass of wine on an Emirates flight prior to her arrival in Dubai. Radha Stirling of Detained in Dubai alleged that "the UAE maintains a deliberately misleading facade that alcohol consumption is perfectly legal for visitors". According to Detained in Dubai, the UAE presented that she had been detained for visa-related issues, though the official prosecution charge provided that she had been arrested for the consumption of alcohol and invading the privacy of an officer. According to the company, Detained in Dubai has campaigned for legislative reforms to prevent further arrests. In response, Emirates released a statement clarifying that alcohol consumption is not prohibited on their flights and alcohol is served in the lounges in the Dubai International Airport and is available for purchase in the duty-free area of the airport. A statement from attorney General of Dubai was released detailing that Holman attempted to enter Dubai using an expired Swedish passport and was held for less than 24 hours and then deported due to profanity and photographing a government official in a restricted area. Holman later stated that she had been held due to a "visa mistake". The story was criticized for being "fake news".
