Umm Al Quwain: An Emirati fisherman detained in Iran for allegedly trespassing into Iranian territorial waters arrived home safely on Thursday morning, Gulf News has learnt.
Sultan Mohammad Bin Hussain, 23, an Emirati from Umm Al Quwain, had been in Iranian custody with his three Indian crewmen since August 10, the day the four men left Umm Al Quwain for an expedition in their twin-engined fishing vessel, according to family members. The Indian crew men also have returned safely.
Mohammad Bin Hussain, the fisherman’s father who sought help from authorities for the men’s release, was in shock when he reunited with his son at Khalid Port on Thursday morning.
“I did not believe the happy news when I received a call informing me about his arrival,” Mohammad said.
The men have had their cell phones and belongings taken away and were only allowed to contact their families for two minutes a day.
Bin Hussain thanked the UAE government, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their efforts to release him and his crewmen.
Bin Hussain denied the charges of trespassing as he said he had GPS on his boat showing the border of each country.
The ordeal
He said he was stopped at sea by six Iranian boats, which suddenly surrounded his boat, at a distance of 35km from Umm Al Quwain coast near Sharjah Petroleum fields.
The boatmen pointed their weapons to the Emirati fisherman and his crew asking them not to move.
They entered his boat and covered their eyes before he could press the alarm button, which existed in each fishing boat in the UAE. They took them almost 10km towards the Iranian coast and stopped in the middle of the sea.
Bin Hussain said the Iranian boatmen then began cutting the cables of the tracking device on the boat. They also confiscated everything the Emirati and the crew men had.
Bin Hussain said they were taken to Abu Musa Island where they beat him up and then to Bandar Abbas.
Bin Hussain said they interrogated only him, and he was the only one who had been beaten for seven days.
They were then transferred to a prison in Bandar Abbas, where their condition improved. Prison guards allowed him to make phone calls for two minutes a day.
The Iranian court sentenced Bin Hussain and his crew to four months in jail on charges of trespassing into Iran’s territorial waters. But he appealed to the court to reduce the jail term and they cut it to three months.
Bin Hussain thanked the UAE government for the help they provided while they were detained in Iran.
Bin Hussain said they returned to the UAE by a cargo boat. His boat remains seized in Iran and competent authorities are doing their best to get it back.
