Dubai police tortured British tourists, prisoners say

Dubai is a popular tourist destination for people all over the globe. But three British tourists have been stuck there for months after their vacation went horribly wrong. 

The nightmare started in July, when Grant Cameron and Karl Williams, both 25 and from London, and Suneet Jeerh, 25, from Essex, were arrested during their Dubai vacation, the Guardian reported. Their crime? Dubai police say they found cannabis in the tourists' car. Sounds like a minor crime, but they've been held in jail without trial for seven months now. 

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The three said in a draft witness statement to the court that they have been brutally tortured by Dubai police. Williams described being tortured in the desert and then in a hotel. "Once I had been knocked to the ground, the police picked me up and put me on the bed. They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute my testicles. It was unbelievably painful," his statement says, VoiceOver reported. 

"I could see that there was a gun pointed at my head. All I could think was that the gun in my face could go off if the policeman slipped, and it would kill me."

Human rights group Reprieve is now trying to defend the men. Reprieve says that the men signed documents in Arabic they did not understand after getting threatened with guns, BBC News reported. Yet they could face up to four years in prison if they are convicted of consuming cannabis, and as many as 10-15 if convicted of possessing it."Under certain circumstances they could be sentenced to death," Reprieve lawyer Marc Calcutt told the BBC. 

The BBC says it contacted the United Arab Emirates embassy in London for comment, but that the embassy isn't talking.