Irish citizens warned: UAE extradition treaty puts them at risk - Stark warning after Tori Towey case

Tori, Towey, Radha Stirling — Extradition and UAE expert warns Irish citizens to take preventative action to protect them from wrongful arrest after treaty is executed.

Irish citizens warned: New risky UAE Extradition Treaty following Tori Towey case.

Two bilateral treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance have been signed by Ireland and the UAE, but Ireland’s pursuit of high profile targets has come at a price.

The case of Tori Towey highlighted the widespread judicial issues in the UAE. Tori was arrested and charged with attempted suicide after trying to escape domestic violence. The newly executed bilateral extradition treaty that Ireland has now signed with the UAE, puts Irish citizens at risk of the Emirates justice system. Interpol & Extradition expert, Radha Stirling, who founded Detained in Dubai and represented Tori Towey, has issued a warning to Irish citizens in wake of the new extradition treaty.

Stirling has represented endless individuals who have found themselves wrongfully listed on Interpol’s Red Notice databases and facing extradition to the UAE. As an expert witness in such matters, she founded IPEX Reform to tackle human rights violations caused by extradition treaties with the United Arab Emirates.

In 2023, Stirling warned Ireland of the treaty’s potential to result in egregious human rights violations for innocent Irish citizens. “As illustrated in Tori Towey’s case and thousands of others, the UAE has a history of charging and convicting innocent individuals. They now have an avenue to pursue the extradition of Irish citizens under the same judiciary that has been noted for unfair investigations, charges and convictions without evidence, discrimination, human rights violations and torture”, explains Stirling.

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“For years, the UAE has pursued British citizens through the courts costing the UK taxpayer hundreds of millions. Even where there is no dual criminality (ie. debt), lengthy extradition proceedings are still part of the deal and each time a citizen is wrongfully pursued, they are at risk of being sent to a country noted for brutality within the prison system. Why should Irish citizens have to go through months if not years of legal proceedings because the UAE justice system pointed a finger?

“It’s all very well to posture the treaty as beneficial to Ireland in that they MAY succeed in extraditing a few targets, but at what cost? I guarantee the UAE will exploit the treaty at great human cost to the victims of their lawfare and to the Irish taxpayer”.

Tori Towey spoke in an X Live Spaces about the sheer number of people facing criminal charges over financial matters like home rental defaults, rental car disputes, credit card debts, mortgages and loans. The reality is that financial defaults are criminalised by the widespread practice of reporting them to police under the category of theft, breach of trust or fraud. The HSBC boss himself said “jailing debtors works” and banks in the UAE still report debtors to Interpol and pursue their arrest and extradition abroad. “The Irish courts will have to give significant time considering whether these extradition requests for fraud meet the criteria for dual criminality. Banks will use this as a way to go after their customers and citizens will be at genuine risk of extradition to the UAE”, adds Stirling.

The expert warns Irish citizens who feel they are at risk to get in touch so that preventative action can be taken. “The best way to deal with the risk of pursuit over financial crime is to strike first. We help citizens lodge preventative documents with Interpol to make sure a Red Notice is never activated in the first place. We also deal with banks and claimants to stop them in their tracks. This is, by far, the best option to protect one’s self in advance and secure them against being arrested or subjected to unfair, lengthy and costly extradition proceedings”.