TV EXECUTIVE FACES JAIL IN DUBAI FOR BARELY VISIBLE CANNABIS SPECK

A London-based television executive is facing four years in jail
after an amount of cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar was
found in his bag at Dubai airport.

Cat Le-Huy, 31, a German national and head of technology at the
television production company Endemol, has been held for three weeks
without charge after flying to the United Arab Emirates on 26 January.

Friends and family have been told he can expect to face the minimum
jail sentence for drug possession in the tiny Arab emirate. Mr Le-Huy
had been on a two-day visit to look into investing in the region. On
Tuesday, the Radio 1 DJ Grooverider, whose real name is Raymond
Bingham, was jailed in Dubai for four years for possession of 2.16g
of cannabis with a street value of about UKP10.

The Foreign Office says nine British nationals have been detained in
Dubai over drugs offences this year, including Keith Brown, from the
West Midlands, who was also jailed this month for four years after a
speck of cannabis was found stuck to the bottom of a shoe.

Mr Le-Huy, of Belsize Park, north London, said he was first
reprimanded for possession of jet-lag pills. When these were shown to
be melatonin, which can be bought over the counter in Dubai and in
the US, and in herbal stores in Britain, he was asked to provide a
urine sample. He said when this also proved negative, his bag was
searched. Airport officials found 0.03 grams of hashish, an amount
not visible to the naked eye.

Mr Le-Huy is being held in Al-Wathba prison, 40 miles north of Dubai,
in a desert. Friends say he has befriended DJ Grooverider, with whom
he shares Australian friends, and is also close to several other
English-speaking inmates.

A fighting fund has been set up to pay Mr Le-Huy's mounting legal
fees, and has already raised UKP25,000. Mr Le-Huy, who came to
Britain 10 years ago, worked at Endemol for two years, including on
the reality TV show Big Brother.

Radha Sterling, a close friend of Mr Le-Huy who is co-ordinating the
fund, said: "Cat absolutely hates marijuana. He never goes anywhere
near it, partly because he's asthmatic and partly because he's very
conscious about his health.

"He's a man of integrity, intelligent, respected, and law-abiding. We
have asked for independent testing of the dirt in his bag and to know
what equipment they are using but they have refused to help us."

Customs authorities have successfully applied to hold Mr Le-Huy in
Dubai until at least the end of March. A 5,000-signature appeal has
been sent to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai
and the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.