Irish flight attendant breaks silence after 'distressing' Dubai charges dropped

An Irish flight attendant who was arrested on charges of attempted suicide and consuming alcohol in Dubai has had her passport returned and will be allowed to travel back to Ireland.

Police withdrew the charges and lifted the travel ban after the Irish government intervened. Tori Towey told The Irish Sun she was "totally overwhelmed" by the support she had received from the people of Ireland during her ordeal. "Thank you for the support. I really appreciate it."

The 28-year-old was charged earlier this week following "the latest in a series of violent assaults" by her husband, The Irish Mirror reported. She allegedly attempted self harm after the attack, but was detained when she went to hospital "for severe bruising and other injuries".

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Radha Stirling, a human rights lawyer and head of the Detained in Dubai campaign group that has been advocating for Towey, said it was "truly astonishing that someone who's been beaten to the degree that she has, has bruises all over her body" was "being abused by the system itself again".

Towey, who moved to Dubai last year when she got a job with Emirates Airlines, was a "young woman who was full of life and full of adventure", her aunt, Ann Flynn, told RTÉ's "Morning Ireland". "It's really terrible that this has happened."

Taoiseach Simon Harris yesterday told the Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament's lower house, that the embassy would be taking the flight attendant to the airport "as soon as she is ready to go".

Dubai might be known for "designer shopping sprees and an opulent nightlife scene", but Towey's case shows again that behind the "ultra-modern facade", it is governed by "draconian laws that appear at odds with the influencer-friendly photos of skyscrapers and futuristic shopping malls", said the Daily Mirror. Couples have been "arrested for sharing a kiss" and members of the LGBTQ+ community face a prison sentence or even the death penalty for consensual gay sex.

The approach of the city's authorities to domestic violence is "grotesque and mediaeval", said Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. It is "really distressing" that a "woman who suffered such vicious domestic violence wasn't protected, wasn't supported but instead was actually charged with offences herself".