BREAKING: 18 year old Marcus Fakana has been sentenced to ONE YEAR IN DUBAI PRISON for holiday sex with a British-Indian girl who is 18 (17 at the time). Marcus feels abandoned by the British government and Keir Starmer who just spent the weekend in the UAE.
While people like JD Vance and the Irish government have been able to resolve cases of injustice and bring their citizens home, the UK has prioritised trade deals over people’s lives. This is truly abhorrent. David Lammy and Keir Starmer have failed Marcus. This is an embarrassment to Britain. The UK was once the most diplomatically influential Western country in the Middle East. Now, we are seeing countries like Canada, Malaysia, Ireland and the US leaving the UK way behind. The Labor government should be ashamed they have not secured the freedom of a teenage tourist. It wasn't a difficult job.
Marcus will appeal his sentence but has already been held in Dubai since September and now has a one year sentence to face. He was desperately hoping to come home this week but prosecutorial mishandling in the first stages of the case meant it wasn’t heard as a misdemeanour when it should have been.
The family have issued a plea to Dubai ruler, HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum to spare Marcus for consensual sex with another British citizen.
I urge young people and parents to reconsider holidays in Dubai where so many people find themselves at risk of unfair and lengthy detention in prisons notorious for human rights abuses and torture. Holidaymakers should book elsewhere until Marcus is free.
There is so much public support for Marcus. They want to see him home and a year in prison is not only unreasonable, it’s an utter disgrace.