Editorial : British media should not make wild allegations - April 20, 2011


The death of British citizen Lee Bradley Brown while in prison in Dubai is a tragedy. He was in the emirate on holiday, and like every tourist to Dubai he should expect to have a great time. But his death has been reported with wild claims in parts of the British media, including unsubstantiated conclusions that Brown had been "tortured" or "beaten to death".
These allegations have not been proven, and those who printed wild claims like this without evidence obviously wanted to damage Dubai's reputation. But such actions have also harmed the British media's reputation. The editors who are quick to bandy about these terms are motivated by the need for endless drama to sell more copies of their newspapers by whatever means necessary.
Some facts are known already: Brown had illegal drugs in his system. He assaulted a chambermaid at a Dubai hotel. He abused and assaulted other hotel staff who came to the terrified worker's rescue. They saw him pulling her by the hair. Police found evidence of bruising on the woman's face.
When Brown was being arrested, he continued to resist officers, damaging property at the hotel and banging his head and nose against a wall. The cause of Bradley's death several days later is that he choked to death on his own vomit, although his family now disputes this.
Dubai Public Prosecution is investigating the whole tragedy, and they have made it clear that if any wrong-doing is discovered in the way the British holidaymaker was dealt with, they will take action.
What has to happen now is for the officials to conduct their investigation and to determine the full facts of Brown's death. Only then can we get the full facts, not just screaming headlines, and we will know what happened.


Source : http://gulfnews.com/opinions/editorials/british-media-should-not-make-wild-allegations-1.796108

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