An Australian woman is jailed in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, apparently for taking a photo and uploading it to social media.  39-year old Jodi Magi says she is “terrified” and not getting the kind of help she expected from the Australian Embassy.

“I’m not sure if it was me being naive.  I was under the impression that embassies were in countries to help their citizens in times of difficulty,” Magi told the ABC.  “But from my experience it seems that their job here seems to be to generate business and they have no interest in anything other than that.”

The nightmare started in February, when she took a photo of a car taking up two disabled parking spaces outside her apartment.  The car had no disabled stickers.  She put it up on social media – without the license plate numbers or any identifiable details.  But someone in her building complained to police.

The case went to court last month, and two weeks ago Jodi was found guilty of “writing bad words on social media”.  The court didn’t bother to explain how or if that was illegal.  They told her she’d be fined and deported; but she wasn’t allowed to leave the country and when she went to pay the fine, they detained her.

“They were about to put me in the male lock-up and then they turned me away and no-one knows what to do with me,” Magi told the ABC in a telephone interview from the back of a police car.  “No one is talking to me.  No one is telling me what is going on.  I’ve been driving around for literally about four hours.”

And then, they took her to jail to spend the night – at least.

The DFAT says it has been assisting Jodi, her husband and their lawyer since 25 May.  DFAT released a statement that reads, “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to provide consular assistance to an Australian woman detained in Abu Dhabi and that for privacy reasons they cannot provide any more information.”