A British teenager jailed in Dubai for a holiday romance with a 17-year-old girl is set to lodge a pardon request believed to be supported by foreign secretary David Lammy.
Marcus Fakana, now 19, from Tottenham, has prepared a plea to the ruler of the UAE, who is understood to have intervened in cases where tourists have fallen foul of his country’s laws in the past.
The teen’s pardon request is expected to be accompanied by a letter of support from the Foreign Secretary, who has previously been accused of not doing enough to help Fakana.
The young construction apprentice is currently serving a one-year sentence in one of Dubai’s most notorious jails.
He was arrested in August after he had consensual sex with a 17-year-old from London during a holiday in the UAE city with his parents.
The girl was just one month away from turning 18, but sex with anyone under the age of 18 is an offence in the Gulf State.
The CEO of Detained in Dubai, a pressure group that is helping Fakana, has now said the British Embassy has prepared a pardon application.
Radha Stirling said according to The Mirror: ‘The British Embassy has been in touch with Marcus while in prison on a regular basis and a pardon application has been prepared.
Marcus Fakana (pictured), now 19, from Tottenham, has prepared a plea to the ruler of the UAE, who has intervened in similar cases involving tourists in the past
Pictured is the high-security al-Aweer prison where Fakana is serving his sentence. The jail houses some of Dubai’s worst offenders, including murderer, terrorists and rapists
Radha Stirling, founder of British-based aid group Detained In Dubai, said Fakana spent New Year’s in isolation and his birthday in Dubai jail
‘Marcus is praying that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, will pardon him.
‘David Lammy has promised a support letter to accompany the pardon request, but he could certainly do more,’ Mr Stirling added.
However, he called on the foreign secretary to do more saying that he shouldn’t just be providing a letter of support and ‘wiping his hands’ of the situation.
Mr Stirling said he expected Mr Lammy to be meeting with the Dubai government and UAE’s ambassador to the UK and ‘making things happen’.
Fakana recently celebrated his 19th birthday in the maximum-security al-Awir prison, which houses death row inmates, murderers, terrorists and violent gangsters.
The detention centre is notorious for its cramped conditions, where 20 inmates are often into cells designed to house just three to four people.
Prisoners have previously claimed to have been tortured for confessions, and rape is reportedly an ‘everyday occurrence’, carried out by both inmates and guards.
Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum delivers a speech during the Founders Memorial event in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019
The family of Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, have been left devastated by his prison sentence, sources previously claimed
David Lammy has come under fire for not doing enough to help Marcus who is currently serving a one year sentence in one of Dubai’s most notorious jails
Marcus is pictured with his family who have been battling to get the teenager released
Fakana and the 17-year-old girl he met on holiday were reportedly planning on continuing their relationship when they were back in London.
But the girl’s mother is understood to have found birth control pills, photos and chats upon their return to the UK. She informed the Dubai police, who arrested Fakana at his hotel.
Detained in Dubai previously said that Fakana ‘feels abandoned by the British government’ following his conviction.
Mr Stirling said: ‘The police had discretion to charge him with a misdemeanour like ‘offensive behaviour’ or similar, but chose to charge him with the felony of sex with an underage girl, the same law a 40 year old engaging in sex with a 14 year old would have been charged with.
‘Although Marcus received the lowest statutory sentence, it is clear that this could have been handled more reasonably and the prosecutors could have exercised more discretion.’
‘He never imagined that he would be going to jail for a holiday romance with a girl who was a few months younger, but is now the same age.
‘It is just shocking. His life is being ruined. Here we have two British tourists who were on holiday in a consensual relationship and now one is going to jail.
‘Dubai likes to market itself as a glamorous party destination, one for influencers, yet they are jailing a British tourist for a something that would not be a crime in his own country and ruining his life.’
A doctor shows a hallway at the medical centre of Al-Aweer prison during the Covid pandemic
Here is a picture of one of the meals a former prisoner has said he was served in the Dubai jail
Protesters march in Westminster, demanding the release of Fakana on January 4
Ms Sterling added: ‘I did expect the British Government, as other governments have done, to step up and save one of their citizens from unjust sentencing.
‘Marcus did plead guilty, but police and prosecutors had a disturbing litany of details in his file which ended up making it more than a misdemeanour and heard in a higher court.
‘They said he was older than 19 and he was from Pakistan. He was a British citizen. There were a lot errors deliberately to torment him.’
According to his own account, apprentice builder Fakana had arrived in Dubai on August 26 with his family on holiday.
The teen told police after his arrest that the girl approached him and asked him to have sex with her.
The prosecution document stated: ‘We received a complaint via the Dubai Police application about the rape of a 17-year-old British woman by an unknown person at the Hilton Palm Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai.
‘When the complainant was asked over the phone about the details, she stated that an unknown person had recognised her daughter (the victim) at the hotel and raped her by force on August 27 while she was in the country.’
A Foreign Office spokesman previously said: ‘We are supporting a British man in the UAE and are in contact with his family.
‘The British Embassy Dubai was not involved in reporting any offence to the UAE authorities.
‘They have informed the UAE authorities of the error in their records and all other interested parties are also aware.’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
