The United Arab Emirates will not let a mother of five children, Guzel Idrisova, return to her home to the Russian republic of Bashkortostan because of a counterfeit banknote, a Russian paper reported on Tuesday.
Idrisova, 40, was accused of fraud a month ago. She was detained on the third day of her vacation when she tried to exchange a fake $100 banknote in an exchange office.
Guzel claims she does not remember where she got this particular banknote and she has a certificate from a Bashkirian bank, which recorded the purchase of $2,000 just before her trip to the resort.
Trying to rescue his wife, Guzel’s husband has been selling the property and business in Bashkortostan for a pittance to pay for lawyers and for the hotel, which essentially became a place of detention.
Police asked the woman to sign a document in Arabic, promising that after this she would be able to leave the country. The contents of the document still remain unknown. Neither a translator nor Guzel’s lawyer were provided with the document, which violates the basic norms of international law. Idrisova was also not invited to attend the hearing at which the ruling to keep her in the country was made.
Rafil Idrisov, her husband, has made repeated calls to the Russian embassy, which he says is doing nothing to help. However, after Guzel’s story hit the press, the case was taken under the control of Russian Foreign Ministry.