Pubdate: Fri, 22 Feb 2008
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2008 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Amol Rajan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

TV EXECUTIVE FACES JAIL IN DUBAI FOR BARELY VISIBLE CANNABIS SPECK

A London-based television executive is facing four years in jail 
after an amount of cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar was 
found in his bag at Dubai airport.

Cat Le-Huy, 31, a German national and head of technology at the 
television production company Endemol, has been held for three weeks 
without charge after flying to the United Arab Emirates on 26 January.

Friends and family have been told he can expect to face the minimum 
jail sentence for drug possession in the tiny Arab emirate. Mr Le-Huy 
had been on a two-day visit to look into investing in the region. On 
Tuesday, the Radio 1 DJ Grooverider, whose real name is Raymond 
Bingham, was jailed in Dubai for four years for possession of 2.16g 
of cannabis with a street value of about UKP10.

The Foreign Office says nine British nationals have been detained in 
Dubai over drugs offences this year, including Keith Brown, from the 
West Midlands, who was also jailed this month for four years after a 
speck of cannabis was found stuck to the bottom of a shoe.

Mr Le-Huy, of Belsize Park, north London, said he was first 
reprimanded for possession of jet-lag pills. When these were shown to 
be melatonin, which can be bought over the counter in Dubai and in 
the US, and in herbal stores in Britain, he was asked to provide a 
urine sample. He said when this also proved negative, his bag was 
searched. Airport officials found 0.03 grams of hashish, an amount 
not visible to the naked eye.

Mr Le-Huy is being held in Al-Wathba prison, 40 miles north of Dubai, 
in a desert. Friends say he has befriended DJ Grooverider, with whom 
he shares Australian friends, and is also close to several other 
English-speaking inmates.

A fighting fund has been set up to pay Mr Le-Huy's mounting legal 
fees, and has already raised UKP25,000. Mr Le-Huy, who came to 
Britain 10 years ago, worked at Endemol for two years, including on 
the reality TV show Big Brother.

Radha Sterling, a close friend of Mr Le-Huy who is co-ordinating the 
fund, said: "Cat absolutely hates marijuana. He never goes anywhere 
near it, partly because he's asthmatic and partly because he's very 
conscious about his health.

"He's a man of integrity, intelligent, respected, and law-abiding. We 
have asked for independent testing of the dirt in his bag and to know 
what equipment they are using but they have refused to help us."

Customs authorities have successfully applied to hold Mr Le-Huy in 
Dubai until at least the end of March. A 5,000-signature appeal has 
been sent to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai 
and the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
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