Ukrainian model Maria Kovalchuk was found with ‘slave-like’ injuries and a broken spine on a roadside in Dubai. Authorities say she fell, but one lawyer claims the case echoes concerns about the safety of the country
A top lawyer specialising in aiding ‘wrongly’ detained foreigners in Dubai has claimed that the supposed ‘City of Gold’ is purely an ‘illusion’ – especially for women.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, has worked relentlessly in assisting more than 20,000 ‘victims of injustice’ in the UAE and the broader Middle East over the past 20 years.
She’s worked on high profile cases in her career, including the imprisonment of Princess Latifa – daughter of Dubai’s ruler and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – who claims she was held against her will by her father after a failed attempt to flee the country.
Stirling also contributed to shedding light on the case of Brit Lee Bradley Brown, 39, who was arrested after an altercation with hotel staff in Dubai in 2011. He would later end up dead in police custody.
In 2022, a coroner’s report found that “neglect by Dubai Police authorities” was to blame for Brown’s death despite a spokesperson for the UAE Embassy in the United Kingdom refuting this.
And now, Dubai has found itself in the headlines once again after Ukrainian model Maria Kovalchuk was discovered on the roadside after going missing for 10 days. The 20-year-old had ‘slave-mark’ injuries and a broken spine, leading to concerns that she was lured into an infamous ‘porta potty party’ – where young, often Western women, are subjected to depraved ‘sexual’ acts by wealthy men in Dubai.
This has led the Ukrainian government to launch a human trafficking investigation, despite Dubai authorities ruling that Maria sustained her life-threatening injuries falling from a “height.”
Stirling is not surprised about Dubai police’s claims regarding Maria, as she claims that they have a “track record of cover ups” from her two-decade-long experience.
Speaking to the Daily Star about Dubai and the supposed dangers the ‘carefully curated’ city holds, Radha Stirling claimed: “While Dubai police are claiming she [Maria] ‘fell’, they are also the same people who claimed Princess Latifa was ‘safe and happy’ in the ‘loving care of her family’.
“They also claimed Lee Bradley Brown somehow beat himself to death in police custody.
“The circumstances surrounding Maria Kovalchuk’s battered body must be independently investigated. We can expect to hear all sorts of stories from Dubai’s media office and police but they should not be taken at face value.
“The case of Maria Kovalchuk highlights a much deeper issue within Dubai’s justice system and public image.
“When the authorities controlling the narrative have a history of misinformation, their claims warrant scepticism, not trust.
“Beneath the city’s carefully curated image lies a reality in which victims, particularly women, are left without protection or justice. Until there is transparency, accountability and an end to the impunity enjoyed by those in power, the illusion of safety in Dubai remains just that, an illusion.”
Although Dubai has appeared to become more ‘Westernised’ in recent years, particularly with the help of huge figures such as Ryan Reynolds, Beyoncé and a flurry of Instagram influencers, Stirling believes this just fuels the ‘illusion’.
The UAE Constitution guarantees equal rights for all, regardless if they are a man or woman. However, women over the age of 18 must still achieve approval from their guardian, often male, to marry or travel out of the country.
Despite the guise of ‘equal rights’, a woman’s husband, or male guardian, can still legally control her passport to prevent her from travelling – something that echoes the case of Princess Latifa, who is now reportedly living ‘safely’ in Paris after mass international concern regarding her alleged ‘imprisonment’.
While Stirling has worked on many cases ranging in age bracket and gender with the NGO she founded, she claims that women have become “particularly vulnerable in Dubai” – and not just natives.
“Women have become particularly vulnerable in Dubai because of the justice system,” she said.
“Those who live there, who are familiar with the system and largely immune from ramifications for their own legal violations, threaten their victims with travel bans, criminal complaints or worse if they do not comply.
“They tell their victims that they will be locked up if they dare try to make a police complaint and they are not wrong.
“It doesn’t help that influencers and models continue to promote Dubai as a glamorous, luxurious and safe destination, often ignoring the darker realities behind the scenes.
“Many influencers accept all-expenses-paid trips in exchange for positive content, effectively becoming part of the public relations machinery.
“Their posts paint a picture of perfection that draws in tourists and business, while the systemic issues of injustice, censorship and exploitation remain hidden from view.”
She continued: “The British and Australian Embassies have warned female victims of violent and sexual assaults to abandon any plans to report the crime because they themselves could end up in prison. Instead, numerous victims have fled the country.
“Keep in mind, I am speaking of Western women here, many of them in professional positions including lawyers. Imagine the women in more vulnerable positions?
“Domestic and hotel staff are particularly vulnerable as are entertainers and models who are likely to be seen as objects for exploitation. Then we have women from Africa and Asia who are frequently abused and exploited with no recourse.”
On the ‘Visit Dubai’ website targeting tourists to come experience the destination, they boast that “Dubai has long held a reputation as one of the safest cities in the world.”
However, Radha claims that, with two decades worth of working on brutal cases of violence committed in Dubai, the ‘truth’ is being repeatedly shuffled away.
Model Maria Kovalchuk’s case has opened Dubai’s Pandora’s box once again, but will it just remain another story waiting to be swept under the ‘carefully curated’ carpet?
Stirling concluded: “Dubai maintains the image that it is one of the safest places in the world and tourists would have the impression that they are completely safe from violent crime but this is completely untrue based on the numerous reports we have received over the past almost two decades.
“None of these reports ended up in the crime statistics, they were stories that were swept under the rug, even to the point of authorities refusing to investigate or prosecute the accused in the face of overwhelming evidence.”