KIWI STUDENT FREED IN DUBAI

A Christchurch student being held in Dubai on a drug charge has been
freed and is on her way home.

Dubai police yesterday released Mariam Shafeek, 21, and dropped the
drug charge.

Shafeek was arrested at Dubai airport on January 25 after being found
with 0.2g of marijuana in her purse.

Her arrest came during a 10-hour stopover on her way home to New
Zealand after visiting family in Cairo, along with her
Christchurch-based father, Yusef Shafeek Shenouda.

It was feared Mariam Shafeek would face several years in jail, as the
penalty for marijuana possession in the United Arab Emirates is four
years jail, regardless of the amount.

Shafeek's Auckland-based mother, Seham Ayad, who rushed to Dubai
after news of the arrest, told The Press yesterday her daughter had
been released and was free to leave.

"They (the police) rang me saying she has been released and can
return home," Ayad said.

She was unsure what had triggered the release and the decision to
drop the charge.

Ayad and Shafeek were last night at Dubai airport waiting for their
flight to New Zealand.

"It is really good to have her back," Ayad said.

They were due in Auckland early this morning.

Ayad said her daughter would probably return to Christchurch early this week.

She said the news had brought relief to the family after Shafeek
spent nine days in a Dubai prison, but that her daughter was still in shock.

"It is still shocking and it is still hard. It has been very
stressful. It was all very, very fast, and I was full of emotions.
There was too much happening," Ayad said.

She planned to spend the next few days with her daughter to ensure
she coped with her return home after her time behind bars.

"She really needs me at the moment," Ayad said.

Shenouda said his daughter's release was "very good news".

He thanked the Dubai authorities for their help in investigating the situation.

"They are very fair. They investigated her results and they dropped
the charges because she is innocent," he said.

The former Burnside High School student was in a cell with eight
others at Dubai's al-Markapet women's jail.

Her bed was an uncovered mattress on the floor and she was subjected
to interrogation for up to six hours at a time, Shafeek told her mother.

"She's very low, she's getting very thin, she was in tears
constantly," Ayad said of her daughter last week.

Ayad had been concerned at the length of the legal process in the
United Arab Emirates after a date was set for a preliminary hearing
and then cancelled.

Ayad thanked the Dubai police who, she said, were very helpful after
her arrival.

Shafeek planned to complete her degree in medical imaging at the
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.