Family of Briton held in UAE urges divestment from Dubai Islamic Bank

Family of Briton held in UAE urges divestment from Dubai Islamic Bank

The family of a British prisoner in Dubai has urged foreign investors such as the lender JPMorgan and fund manager BlackRock to divest their holdings in Dubai Islamic Bank, which it blames for the extended detention of its relative.

Ryan Cornelius, 68, has been imprisoned in the Gulf’s commercial capital for 14 years after being arrested in 2008 along with three other people, including his former business partner Charles Ridley.

All four were convicted of defrauding DIB, which is part-owned by the Dubai government, in 2011.

At the end of their sentences in 2018, following an application by the bank, a Dubai judge extended their detention by 20 years until they settled $430mn in alleged debt. The judge retroactively used a 2009 law that provides for the imposition of a prison sentence for the non-repayment of fraudulent gains from government-related entities.

The offence for which Cornelius was convicted predated the 2009 law.

The family of Cornelius, whose health is deteriorating, has been waging a campaign for his release. It has called on the UK to impose sanctions for alleged human rights abuses on DIB’s chair Mohammed Al Shaibani as regards Cornelius’s disproportionate sentence and what it sees as the cruel treatment and arbitrary detention in jail.

Shaibani is