Dubai drops charges against Swedish mother with expired passport

A Swedish woman was deported after attempting to enter the United Arab Emirates with an expired passport and took pictures of an immigration officer at the Dubai International Airport, Dubai government's media office said on Saturday.

Ellie Hollman, 44, a dentist who traveled from London to Dubai with her four-year-old daughter, Bibi, arrived from London via Emirates airline on July 13 but the immigration officials found her passport expired on June 10.

Essam Issa Al Humaidan, Attorney General of Dubai, said that after the incident, she “produced an Iranian passport, and was informed by the officer that she could enter the country by issuing a new temporary visa, which allowed a 96-hour stay, and had to change her departure flight according to the new visa.”

Hollman “refused angrily to the additional payment fees that the process would require and proceeded to verbally insult the immigration officer and take photos of the officer via her phone,” a statement said.

Al Humaidan said that charges were issued against Hollman after she took pictures of a government official at a border crossing, which is a restricted area where photography or filming is forbidden.

Hollman denied these accusations and reported to the British media that the reason charges were issued against her is because she had a glass of wine on her flight.

She also made claims that she was not looked after but Dubai government denied these claims and said: “the woman and her child remained together in the airport security office for less than 24 hours while services were provided to them, taking into full account and consideration of her four-year-old daughter.”

Al Humaidan said that the prosecutors later dropped the charges and decided to deport the 44-year-old instead.