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Tierra Allen, 29, has been detained and barred from leaving Dubai/United Arab Emirates after a man filed a legal case against her for “screaming in public.” But now it seems that she may have been the target of an elaborate scam carried out by rental companies preying on tourists.
According to Insider, Allen was the passenger in a rented vehicle driven by someone else, in Dubai, when they were involved in a minor accident. The car was towed back to the rental company with all of Allen’s belongings inside it. Upon arrival at the rental company, Allen, an influencer, was told she would have to pay thousands of dollars in order to get her possessions back. Understandably upset, Allen began to yell at the workers and was then apprehended for breaking a law in the UAE that criminalizes swearing, rudeness, and obscene gestures.
The law is not specifically defined and not usually enforced. But this summer, visiting Americans have been similarly detained.
“I just had three Americans in the past couple of months who said they were in pretty much the same situation,” said Radha Stirling, a U.K.-based human rights advocate who runs an organization called Detained in Dubai that provides legal assistance to foreigners in the UAE. “They ended up paying $20,000 that they didn’t owe to a rental car company just to get their passports back so they could go home.”
Allen’s mother, Tina Baxter, believes that once her daughter was recognized as a U.S. citizen she was preyed upon. Allen has only been charged and not convicted of anything, but she cannot leave the country until her case is heard. Her passport is being held by police.
As far as jail time is concerned, Sterling says Allen is at the mercy of law enforcement in the UAE. “If the police choose to prosecute, that can take in itself four months, six months, maybe even longer, just until she gets a court date,” Stirling explained. “In a worst-case scenario, if she was prosecuted and convicted, she could be looking at up to two years in prison.”
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