An Irish airline stewardess is stranded in Dubai and facing charges of alcohol consumption and attempting suicide.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has vowed to intervene to help Tori Towey, 28, from Co Roscommon. Campaigners claim that Tori is accused of breaking strict laws in the Muslim country – even though she is the victim of an alleged attack in her home. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald named Ms Towey’s husband as her alleged attacker on Tuesday and said she was the victim of the “most gross domestic violence”.
Human rights campaigners said that she wanted to leave the Middle Eastern state after receiving hospital treatment for severe bruising and other injuries – but was detained.
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Campaign group Detained in Dubai warned that Tori could now face a lengthy imprisonment in a jail that is notorious for "human rights abuses and torture". It urged Ireland to intervene, calling on the Government to fight to have the charges dropped.
The Taoiseach pledged to “intervene and see how we can support an Irish citizen” in the “most appalling circumstances”.
Deputy Lou McDonald raised the harrowing case after speaking with Tori. She told the Dail that “her passport has been destroyed” and a “travel ban was imposed on her”.
The Sinn Fein president said: “Following one particularly severe beating in which her husband repeatedly tried to break her arm, Tori escaped upstairs and she attempted to take her own life. Tori now faces charges in Dubai of attempted suicide and the abuse of alcohol.
“The system over there, rather than protecting this woman, who is an Irish citizen, chose instead to detain her, to charge her. She’s now under the most incredible stress. I spoke to her. Her mother Caroline has travelled to be with her. Tori wants to come home, simple as that. She’s a Roscommon woman. She wants to come home.”
She added: “I’m asking now, as a matter of absolute urgency, that we have a statement from this House; that you intervene, Taoiseach; that the Ambassador comes in and that you explain to the authorities of Dubai that no woman should be treated in this way. That an Irish citizen, an Irish woman will not be treated in this way.”
Roscommon TD Claire Kerrane also called for Tori to be allowed to travel home to Ireland. Deputy Kerrane posted online: “This is absolutely frightening. I have been in touch with [Tanaiste] Micheál Martin and I will be raising this in the Dáil. The Government needs to intervene on this urgently.”
She added: “Tori Towey must be released and allowed to return home to Roscommon urgently. This young woman has been treated in the most horrific way and simply wants to go home. I am determined to work with the Ambassador, Foreign Affairs Minister, and anyone necessary to ensure that her release is secured without delay.”
Images online show Tori, whose family is originally from Boyle in Roscommon, holding up her arms to reveal extensive bruising. Detained in Dubai chief Radha Stirling told the Irish Mirror: “Tori and her mother are in Dubai and it’s illegal for them to talk to the media.”
She added: “Their local TD has committed to help. Deputy Kerrane responded in record time for calls to help. So heartwarming to see such support. We need Tori home in Ireland.”
She told Deputy Kerrane: “You are a gem. I’ve passed [your support] on to Tori and her mum and they are ever thankful.”
Tori graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology and moved to Dubai in April last year to work with Emirates Airlines. After alleged attacks, Tori tried to leave Dubai, according to Detained in Dubai chief Stirling.
She said: “The thing she remembers is an ambulance crew and police waking her up. She was taken to Al Barsha police station and kept for several hours. Her mother pleaded to the Irish Consulate, but in the absence of their assistance, she boarded a flight to Dubai.”
Stirling added: “Tori arranged to fly home to Ireland but when she arrived at the airport, she was told there was a travel ban. She attended the police station. She was assured that the travel ban would be lifted, but it never happened. She was stuck. Tori’s experience is nothing short of tragic and, quite frankly, she is lucky to be alive.”
She continued: “The Irish Embassy and the UAE medical and police services could certainly have done more to help Tori. She was moments from death.”
The Detained in Dubai group wants the charges against Tori dropped before her case reaches court next Thursday. Its chief Stirling said: “The case against her is going to court on July 18. She has been charged with attempted suicide and alcohol consumption.”
She added: “We are calling on Dubai authorities to urgently drop the charges against Tori, remove the travel ban, and let her fly home to Ireland with her mother. We are also calling on Ireland’s Taoiseach Simon Harris, the head of Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, ambassador Alison Milton, and local TDs to help bring Tori home.”
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