Petition for Amnesty : Portuguese Filmmaker in Jail

Dear Aine,

I would like to ask you a favour… and share a story with you.

Ivo Marques Ferreira, a young (26 years old) Portuguese film director, is currently detained at the Jabal Ali Police Station in Dubai. The police found traces of cannabis in his blood and the remains of a joint in the appartment. He was detained along with an UK fellow. Seems like the girlfriend of his friend denounced them to the police.
His fellow was promptly released thanks to the intervention of the British authorities, but Ivo Ferreira remains in jail. Seems like there’s no Portuguese embassy there, and the resources are scarce. In an interview to a portuguese radio station, Ivo Ferreira said the judgments for these cases are made with the prisoner put in a jail, hands and feet chained. He also said that in court he is only allowed to say guilty or not guilty, and that if he pledges not guilty the judgment takes a lot more time. He risks to be 5 years in jail, that’s why the Portuguese Filmmakers Association have put an online petition to His Highness Sheik Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, asking for an amnesty. You can read it here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/ivomarqu/

Would you help spread the word about this case? I am trying to find English news sources about this, but so far only found it in the Portuguese news media.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Afonso . . . . . . .
So, how about it, readers. Help spread the word about this case and sign the petition above. Thanks.

I’m signature #12739.

More on this can be found in the Khaleej Times of UAE.