{"id":20797,"date":"2024-07-11T14:51:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T14:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=20797"},"modified":"2024-07-11T15:13:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T15:13:12","slug":"uae-police-withdraw-womans-attempted-suicide-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=20797","title":{"rendered":"UAE police withdraw woman\u2019s attempted suicide charge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 43 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

Police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have withdrawn the charges against Irish woman Tori Towey and have closed the case, it has been confirmed.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old from Roscommon was facing charges including attempted suicide and consuming alcohol and had her passport destroyed.<\/p>\n

She had been working as a flight attendant based in Dubai \u2013 the largest city in the UAE.<\/p>\n

The Dubai Public Prosecution has confirmed to the BBC that it has dropped the case.<\/p>\n

Radha Stirling, a lawyer and human rights advocate who runs the Detained in Dubai group, said Ms Towey and her mother were \u201cover the moon\u201d at the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ever grateful for widespread support of the public, the media and the Irish government,\u201d she\u00a0wrote on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope her transit at the airport will go smoothly and that no further attempts will be made to keep her in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Travel ban lifted<\/h2>\n

Earlier, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Simon Harris said a travel ban preventing Ms Towey from leaving the UAE had been lifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe embassy will take Tori to the airport as soon as she is ready to go,\u201d he told the D\u00e1il (lower house of Irish parliament).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe embassy will of course continue to follow up on the case which is still active as of now\u2026 and to thank our embassy for the work in relation to that\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Simon Harris pledged to intervene on behalf of Tori Towey<\/p>\n

Previously the taoiseach said it was \u201cutterly, utterly unacceptable how an Irish citizen is being treated\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Harris also said he had spoken to Ms Towey and her mother, who is with her in the UAE.<\/p>\n

He went on to say Ms Towey had \u201cbeen the victim of male violence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Tori has been through is, I think, unimaginable for so many people here in this country, that a woman who has been the victim of a brutal attack found herself waking up not in a hospital, but in a police station,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Want to start a new chapter\u2019<\/h2>\n

On Wednesday, Ann Flynn, Ms Towey\u2019s aunt, told BBC Radio Foyle\u2019s North West Today programme that Tori and her whole family had been through a huge ordeal but she hoped the end was now in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe travel ban being lifted is a huge relief, I didn\u2019t actually quite believe it when I heard it,\u201d Ms Flynn said.<\/p>\n

Irish woman Tori Towey is in \u201cthe most appalling circumstances\u201d in the United Arab Emirates, the D\u00e1il heard<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully they will be home tomorrow. They haven\u2019t actually got a flight sorted yet and we are just waiting to hear next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ms Flynn praised everyone who helped highlight her niece\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they arrive in Ireland, it will be such a relief,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want her home, we just want to start a new chapter with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timeline: How Tori Towey\u2019s ordeal developed<\/h2>\n

28 June \u2013 After allegedly being assaulted, Ms Towey is charged with attempting suicide
\n9 July \u2013 Sinn F\u00e9in deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald raises her situation in the D\u00e1il and says her passport has been destroyed and she has been banned from travelling
\nTaoiseach Simon Harris says the Irish government will do what it can to help Ms Towey
\n10 July \u2013 Mr Harris says he has spoken to Ms Towey and that she is increasingly positive about the situation
\nThe taoiseach later confirms the travel ban has been lifted and she is preparing to travel to the airport and home to Ireland
\nThe Dubai Public Prosecution confirms the case against Ms Towey has been dropped<\/p>\n

\u2018Most gross domestic violence\u2019<\/h2>\n

The case came to international attention after it was raised by Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald in the D\u00e1il (Irish lower house of parliament) on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

She said Ms Towey\u2019s mother had travelled to Dubai to be with her and that she \u201cwants to come home\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has been the victim of the most gross domestic violence,\u201d Ms McDonald said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer passport has been destroyed. There was a travel ban imposed on her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Irish government should make it \u201cabsolutely plain to the authorities of Dubai that no woman should be treated in this way\u201d, Ms McDonald told the D\u00e1il, and that \u201can Irish citizen, an Irish woman, will not be treated in this way\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance.<\/p>

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Police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have withdrawn the charges against Irish woman Tori Towey and have closed the case, it has been confirmed. The 28-year-old from Roscommon was… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20825,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20797\/revisions\/20825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}