Amer Alshawa, a Turkish citizen, was detained on Oct. 2 at Dubai International Airport after arriving at the United Arab Emirates.
The whereabouts of an Ohio University alumnus is still unknown after he was detained overseas in October, The Post has learned.
Amer Alshawa, a Turkish citizen, was detained on Oct. 2 at Dubai’s airport after arriving at the United Arab Emirates.
Alshawa was in UAE to attend his nephew’s wedding, according to Alkamara, a human rights group that works to assist Arabic people who are wrongfully detained or mistreated.
“Many of us may remember that Amer was a quite a joyful, easy-to-go-along and positive individual who had a very large impact in the interfaith dialogue in Athens during his time as a Ph.D. student in the late 1990s,” Ohio University Professor Kaya Savas, said in an email.
Alshawa received a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from OU in 1986. He received his Masters degree from OU in 1988, and Ph.D. in 2000, according to OU’s Office of the University Registrar.
OU’s registrar confirmed the years of his degrees were accurate.
He was also a research associate with the university from 1992 to 1996, according to his Linkedin page. His LinkedIn profile also shows that prior to his arrest, he was working as a general manager for a Turkish company called Yapi A.S., working with investment management and real estate development.
The company could not be reached for confirmation.
He was able to contact his family 13 days after his disappearance and said that he was being treated fairly, but was never able to contact them again, according to the Alkamara article. His whereabouts are still unknown, along with the reason for his arrest.
The International Jurist Union wrote an open letter to UAE advocating for Alshawa’s release earlier this year.
UAE has been criticized by the Human Rights Watch for the alleged “forced disappearance” of activists.
At this time, it is not clear whether Alshawa was engaged in activist activities around the time of his arrest.
A Facebook page and a Twitter account have been created to raise awareness of Alshawa’s disappearance. A petition exists with nearly 1,000 signatures to urge the Turkish prime minister to stop enforced UAE disappearances and bring Alshawa home.
The Post contacted Dubai Police via email and officials have not yet responded nor have several other persons who might know Alshawa.
This is a developing story. The Post will update this story as details come in. Stick with @ThePost and @ThePostCampus.
