A British citizen has been charged in Dubai for sharing a charity post on his Facebook page calling for help for Afghan refugees.
Scott Richards, who has joint British-Australian nationality, promoted a charity drive to buy blankets and tarpaulins.
The 43-year-old was held for 22 days before being charged with fundraising without permission.
Under strict new laws only charities registered in the United Arab Emirates can make charity appeals.
Mr Richards, who was brought up in the Australian city of Adelaide but travelled to Dubai on his UK passport, has been living in Dubai with his wife and two sons while working as an economic development adviser.
Penalties for violating the law include prison terms between two months and one year and a fine of up to 100,000 dirhams (£20,000).
Mr Richard’s mother Penelope Haberfield, said he had only been able to change his clothes once every seven days while detained and had to pay for water.
She said: “His wife is under extreme stress. She can only take the clothes to him once a week. She takes him money so that he can buy water and extra food.
“She’s worried for him, she’s worried for herself because if she runs out of money, will she have to leave the country? She’s frightened for her children.”
Police confirmed that Mr Richards had used social media to recommend a crowd-funding GoFundMe campaign run by a US charity which works in Afghanistan.
The page aims to raise $35,000 (£26,000) for “new tarpaulins, blankets, warm clothes and socks, and sleeping bags” for children at the Chahari Qambar refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul.
More than 100 children froze to death at the camp four years ago.
Mr Richards was arrested at his home on July 28 and has been held at Dubai police Station where he has been refused bail three times.
He has been able to see his wife once a week and make limited phone calls.
The jail where he is being held - Dubai’s Al Muraqqabat police station - does not allow prisoners access to a mattress or blankets, nor give inmates toilet paper.
Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai, said: “‘Holding an Australian-British National in detention for weeks without charge, is a breach of international human rights standards.”
The Foreign Office said it was proving support to Mr Richards and his family.
