- Afsana Lachaux, 46, from London, is accused of kidnapping her son Louis
- UAE officials say she did not attend an access visit with her ex-husband
- Frenchman Bruno Lachaux awarded custody of the boy by Dubai court
- She claims he snatched Louis from a pushchair in a shopping centre
- If found guilty Mrs Lachaux could be jailed for three years
- She could then be deported back to the UK, leaving her son behind
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This is the British mother facing three years in a Dubai prison in after she was accused of abducting her own three-year-old son in an acrimonious custody battle with her ex-husband.
Afsana Lachaux, 46, from London, is facing charges of kidnapping her toddler Louis after officials in the United Arab Emirates said she had failed to turn up to a pre-arranged access visit.
However, the mother-of-three said she had not attended because her former husband Bruno Lachaux, who was awarded custody of the boy by a Dubai court, had threatened to kill her on their last meeting.
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Accused: Afsana Lachaux, 46, from London, is facing charges of kidnapping her three-year-old son Louis and if found guilty could be sent to a prison in Dubai for three years
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Allegations: Officials in the United Arab Emirates said she had failed to bring Louis to a pre-arranged access visit with her French ex-husband Bruno Lachaux
Mrs Lachaux will go on trial in Dubai next week and if she is found guilty at the hearing on February 11, she could be put in prison for three years.
She then risks being deported back to the UK, leaving her youngest child behind.
Mrs Lachaux was a senior civil servant in east London before moving to the UAE in 2010, shortly after she married her former partner, a 38-year-old aviation engineer.
Their son, who has dual French and British nationality, was born in Dubai.
She claims her French ex-husband snatched little Louis from his pushchair after he tracked her down to a shopping centre near her home.
She has not seen the boy since.
'The idea I may never be able to hold him again is unbearable,' she told the Sunday Mirror.
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Battle: Mrs Lachaux claims her French ex-husband snatched little Louis from his pushchair after he tracked her down to a shopping centre near her home
'I am scared about being sent to prison but I am more scared about being kept apart from Louis.'
Mrs Lachaux's two older sons, Rabbhi Yahiya, 26, and Shabbir, 23, who have a different father, still live in London but had visited their mother several times in Dubai.
She had told them in November 2010 that she was having marital troubles, claiming that Mr Lachaux had hidden Louis's passport.
Mrs Lachaux left her husband in April 2011, after she was persuaded to by Rabbhi.
Although she was awarded custody of Louis, she was ordered to allow Mr Lachaux to see the child.
However, in March 2012 she failed to take him to an access meeting in a park, leading to the abduction charge.
She strongly denies the accusation and told a court at an earlier hearing: 'I did not kidnap my son. But after one of our court hearings, my ex-husband threatened to kill me if I didn’t give him the boy so I got scared and stayed away from him.'
She claims she has been living in poverty 'trapped' in the country since the authorities took away her passport following a travel ban obtained by her wealthy ex-husband, and alleges that Mr Lachaux has exploited Dubai’s legal system, based in part on Islamic sharia law, to gain custody of the little boy and have criminal charges brought against her.
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Separation: Mrs Lachaux said that although she was afraid of going to prison, she was 'more scared about being kept apart from Louis'
She also claims Mr Lachaux divorced her and successfully sued for custody of Louis in a sharia court without her knowledge. Under sharia law if 12 months have passed without the court's decision being challenged it is upheld and can not be appealed.
In a letter submitted to prosecutors on February 18 last year her ex-husband wrote: 'She would forget his vaccinations, prevent the father from providing him with medical care, since he suffers eczema, and leaves the boy with strangers during her repeated travels and staying up late at parties with her friends.'
Mrs Lachaux, who, unlike her husband is a Muslim, has been told she must produce three witnesses who support her defence, that she did not turn up because she had allegedly suffered domestic abuse.
She has been unable to work and is surviving on what her family have been able to send her from the UK.
Her family have also been trying to raise the profile of her case, and in a blog post Rabbhi wrote: 'On one occasion Afsana and her baby were flung into Bur Dubai jail where her baby was denied food and water and she was assaulted by a prison guard.
'Her incarceration was at the insistence of her husband. No investigation or action was taken into the false imprisonment or assault.'
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been providing consular assistance to her family since her arrest, and she is also being backed by her friend Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2550403/British-mother-faces-prison-Dubai-ordered-stand-trial-custody-battle.html#ixzz2sN2sO0T4
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