July 25th 2023.
Tierra Allen, 29, has recently been detained and barred from leaving the United Arab Emirates after a man filed a legal case against her for “screaming in public.” However, it appears that she may have been the target of a scam by rental companies that prey on tourists.
Insider reported that Allen was the passenger in a rented car that was involved in a minor accident in Dubai. When the car was towed back to the rental company, Allen, an influencer, was informed that she had to pay thousands of dollars to get her possessions back. Understandably, she began to shout at the workers and was then apprehended for allegedly breaking a law in the UAE that criminalizes swearing, rudeness, and obscene gestures.
The law is not clearly defined and is not typically imposed. Nevertheless, this summer, visiting Americans have been detained in a similar manner. Radha Stirling, a U.K. based human rights advocate and founder of Detained in Dubai, an organization that provides legal aid to foreigners in the UAE, said, “I just had three Americans in the past couple of months who said they were in pretty much the same situation. They ended up paying $20,000 that they didn’t owe to a rental car company just to get their passports back so they could go home.”
Allen’s mother, Tina Baxter, believes that her daughter was targeted because she is a U.S. citizen. Allen has only been charged and not convicted of anything, but she cannot leave the country until her case is heard. Her passport is being held by police.
When it comes to jail time, Sterling says Allen is at the mercy of the UAE law enforcement. Stirling stated, “If the police choose to prosecute, that can take in itself four months, six months, maybe even longer, just until she gets a court date. In a worst-case scenario, if she was prosecuted and convicted, she could be looking at up to two years in prison.”
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