A TikTok influencer who has been charged with murdering her boyfriend in Dubai is now facing death by firing squad, according to human rights group Detained in Dubai.
Brooke George, 23, from Gravesend in Kent, has been charged with stabbing her boyfriend after first meeting him online.
The human rights group has said Ms George was acting in self-defence after being violently attacked by her partner.
Ms George had visited the UAE once before to meet her boyfriend, but things took a turn on her second visit, with Detained in Dubai claiming that Ms George’s partner had become “increasingly controlling and abusive.”
Ms George’s partner allegedly punched her, withheld her passport and attacked her at their apartment.
Chief executive of Detained in Dubai Radha Stirling said that Ms George “feared for her life and, reaching for a kitchen knife within her grasp, acted in self defence.”
Ms George was arrested in the early hours of June 22.
The human rights group is now calling for Ms George to be released on bail and for the case to be treated as domestic violence.
As it stands, former John Lewis worker Ms George has been charged with premeditated murder and will face execution if convicted.
Detained in Dubai said that Ms George was not given access to the British Embassy, was forced to make statements without a solicitor and was allegedly forced to strip naked in front of male officers at the Bur Dubai Police Station after being detained.
Ms Stirling said: “"We are calling for Brooke to be released on bail pending the outcome of the investigation. The UAE has a well-documented history of criminalising and revictimising women who report violence."
In a statement, her mother, Thereza George, said: "After Brooke returned to Dubai for the second time, the dynamic between them had clearly changed.
"The day before the incident, she did not seem like herself. She was quieter and not her usual happy, cheerful self, but she did not tell me why.
"That evening they went to a bar in Dubai. When I spoke to Brooke right after the incident, she was absolutely terrified. I have never seen my daughter so frightened in my life. She was crying uncontrollably. I could see that one of her eyes was badly swollen and was beginning to close."
She added she was "deeply concerned" for her daughter's welfare.
"The daughter I spoke to that night was utterly terrified," she added.
"I firmly believe she was desperately trying to get home and away from whatever had happened to her."
In a statement to the BBC, the The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said: "We are in touch with a British woman detained in the UAE, we are supporting her family, and we are in contact with the local authorities."
If you’ve been affected by this story, for confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk
