Lebanese doctor Richard Kharrat was arrested in the UAE in April 1. (Credit: NNA)
Twelve days after his arrest in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Richard Kharrat, a Lebanese doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, is still in custody. Lebanon’s General Security chief, Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, is making efforts to obtain his release, according to a statement issued by Kharrat’s family following a meeting with Ibrahim on Monday.
The next 48 hours should be decisive, says a source close to the case told L’Orient-Le Jour: either Kharrat will be released by the Emirati police, or he will be referred to the prosecutor’s office in the UAE. Meanwhile, and for the 12th consecutive day, #RichardKharrat remains among the most used hashtags on Twitter — a sign that the case has garnered significant public interest.
“We met today with Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who assured us that he is following up the case with the relevant Emirati authorities,” said the statement issued by Kharrat’s family.
When it comes to sensitive matters, such as the release of Lebanese nationals detained abroad, Ibrahim’s assistance is often requested by the authorities.
The doctor, who has been detained since April 1, contacted his family on Monday for the first time.“We have communicated with our son,” Kharrat’s relatives’ statement said, adding, “We have appointed lawyers, including an American lawyer with long experience in this field, to carry out the legal steps [for his release]."
According to information gathered by L’Orient-Le Jour, in addition to the American lawyer, an Emirati lawyer and a Lebanese lawyer are also pursuing the case. The latter is not registered with the Emirati professional order, but is coordinating with her counterpart.
The source close to the case said that investigations were conducted for 10 days by the UAE police.
Between 2017 and 2020, Kharrat published tweets considered derogatory towards the UAE. People close to the specialist were astonished when the arrest was announced that such old comments had suddenly reached the Emirati authorities at a time when Kharrat was in this country. They referred to an Emirati internet user who had denounced the doctor, sending the following message on Twitter to the UAE’s deputy attorney general, Hamad Al Shamsi: "@RichardKharrat mocked the symbols of the state. He is also accused of causing the death of journalist Nicole Hajal's two premature babies in Lebanon at the time of their birth. He is currently in Abu Dhabi to take a test to be recruited to the Aesthetic (medical) center.”
The tweet, reportedly, immediately led to the arrest of the gynecologist in the hotel where he was staying.
The gynecologist is the subject of a complaint in Lebanon brought by Hajal.
Many internet users speculated that she and one of her friends, Dima Sadek, a journalist who works for the MTV channel, were behind the doctor’s misadventure in the UAE. These accusations had been firmly refuted by the two women, the first in a statement issued by her lawyer, Carole Racy, and the second, in a statement to L'Orient-Le Jour, three days after the doctor’s arrest.
For its part, the Order of Physicians, of which the gynecologist is a member, has, since Kharrat’s arrest, also been mobilizing in his favor. Charaf Abou Charaf, president of the order, sent a letter on Monday to the UAE’s president, Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the emir of Abu Dhabi, urging him to release the specialist.
“We urge Your Highness to give the Richard Kharrat case the attention it deserves,” wrote Abu Charaf in his letter. “We wish for the release of the arrested doctor as soon as possible,” he added. The document also includes a tribute to the UAE: “You have never spared your efforts to support Lebanon and help it recover .... You have welcomed the Lebanese, and have never hesitated to open the labor market before them.”
This article was originally published in French in L’Orient-Le Jour.
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