Conor Howard’s several month ordeal could have been prevented with a simple police and Interpol check.
Checking Conor’s status in advance would have prevented his arrest and several month detention in Corfu, Greece. Radha Stirling of Detained in Dubai represented Conor Howard who was freed. Stirling subsequently deleted the Interpol Red Notice against him.
‘He’s no Pablo Escobar, just a wee guy from Tranent’
The family of a young Scottish engineer stuck in a Greek jail and facing extradition to Qatar is calling on the UK’s foreign secretary to intervene.
Conor Howard from Tranent is currently being held in a Greece after an international arrest warrant was issued for him through Interpol.
Qatari authorities want him returned to the country to face a one year sentence he had no knowledge of.
They claim he passed through the country with drugs paraphernalia.
Things started going wrong for the 27-year-old engineer in October.
After a year working in Australia, he was detained by officials during a brief stop in Qatar while on a flight from Australia to the UK.
He was arrested after they found a small plastic herb grinder he had bought legally in Australia as a joke gift for a friend in Scotland.
The project manager spent six hours in cells before returning home.
He was unaware that he had been tried and convicted in his absence and sentenced to 12 months in jail in the Middle Eastern state – which made him a wanted man.
The first he knew of this was on 29 August when he visited parents Robert and Adele Young at their holiday home in Roda, Corfu.
Conor was detained at the airport and faces an extradition hearing to Qatar next week.
His stepfather, Robert Young told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “The political side of it is crazy. Qatar is a very rich country and Greece are looking to be upholding the law for them so we are hoping the campaign is 100% successful and they will realise the mistake.
He was drug tested in Qatar and here, both negative, both clean. He’s not Pablo Escobar, it’s a wee guy from Tranent here.”
Mum Adele added: “What he has done is nothing. It is not a crime in Greece. It is not a crime in Britain but Greece are just trying to uphold what Qatar are saying”.
Radha Stirling, of campaign group Detained in Dubai, which is representing Conor said the arrest, detention and demand that he be taken back to Qatar was ridiculous, especially given that he was released in the first place.
She told the BBC: “It is absolutely a strange case that he was arrested in the first place over carrying what is essentially a herb grinder. It could be used for tea or anything – it’s completely legal in Australia where it was purchased, in the UK and in Greece.
“He was let go in Qatar after an investigation and then he suddenly finds himself arrested and detained in a Greek prison awaiting extradition for a one year sentence that was issued against him in his absentia.”
She added: “It is really difficult to protect yourself against arbitrary enforcement and this is middle-east wide. We have seen people arrested for having poppy seeds on the bottom of their shoe that they picked up from a bread roll.”
His local MP in East Lothian, the SNP’s Kenny MacAskill, has taken his case with the Foreign Office.
Mr MacAskill said he appreciated the sensitivities in dealing with the Qatari government but he is seeking a meeting with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary.
He said: “The Greeks do require to accept the warrant that is issued. It is Qatar that’s issued this warrant and it is Qatar that has to solve this problem.
“I cannot for the life of me understand why they would wish to have Conor back in their custody. He has not committed any criminal offence, and even if it they view this as something they don’t approve of, it is so trivial it cannot merit sending Qatari police officers in a plane to Corfu to bring him back to Qatar.
“I do think the Foreign Office has to push harder and further for a British citizen who is detained in custody in Greece for no reason whatsoever other than some administrative error.”
Conor’s friends have set up a campaign group called Get Milky Hame which has 1,700 members and have also set up fundraising pages to help with his family’s expenses.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting Mr Howard and his family following his arrest in Corfu and are in contact with the Greek authorities.
“Our staff have spoken to Conor on the phone to help him access legal advice and are also keeping Mr MacAskill up to date on the case.”
