A Taiwanese man who was arrested while transiting through Abu Dhabi International Airport on Monday has been released and is staying in housing arranged by Taipei’s office in Dubai, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today.
The office has been in close contact with United Arab Emirates (UAE) police and the man’s family for the past several days, the ministry said.
It received a call from his family early this morning informing them that he had been released by police, it said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Since tomorrow through Tuesday next week is a national holiday in the UAE, the man, surnamed Chen (陳), needs to report to police on Wednesday next week to lift his travel ban, the ministry said.
After speaking with Chen early this morning, office Director Eric Chen (陳俊吉) arranged for him to stay in the office’s staff residence and would continue to provide assistance, including help with subsequent travel documents, it said.
The ministry said it is still investigating the reason for Chen’s arrest and would continue to offer any necessary assistance.
The ministry said it first received a call for help on Monday from the man's wife, surnamed Yang (楊), who said he was taken away by five armed police officers as they were about to board a connecting flight to Turkey.
Yang said she was not able to ask why her husband was taken away and, having cleared immigration, had to board the flight to Istanbul with other members of the tour group they were part of, the ministry said.
Soon after receiving the phone call, Taipei’s Dubai office contacted Abu Dhabi police to get information on the case, it said.
Early on Wednesday, Abu Dhabi police briefed the office on the incident, without providing further details on whether Chen was arrested and why he was detained, it said.
The couple from Yunlin County were reportedly at the start of a 16-day tour to Turkey when the incident occurred.
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