Trapped

How Australian Marcus Lee and his wife, Julie, survived wrongful imprisonment, house arrest and five years of trials and tribulations in Dubai.

In 2006 Marcus Lee moved to Dubai with his wife, Julie, to take up his dream job working for Nakheel, the emirate's largest property developer.

Everything went swimmingly until one day in 2009 when Marcus was picked up by the state police and imprisoned in solitary over extremely hazy charges. Marcus managed to get out of prison - and out of Dubai - with the help of Julie, who found her husband and spent five years working to free him - first from one of Dubai's notorious jails, and then from house arrest. In jail she kept his hopes up by smuggling notes and poems to him (she received smuggled diary entries in return).

The tale of a foreign posting gone horribly wrong and a relationship which survived despite enormous odds, this is at heart a love story and a testament to the strength of a marriage.

About the Author

Marcus Lee is a property consultant whose work took him to Dubai during the construction boom. In 2010 Marcus became caught up in Dubai's byzantine legal system, accused of a crime he didn't commit. Placed in solitary confinement, prison and then house arrest, he and his wife, Julie spent five years fighting for his innocence. In 2014 the Lees were finally able to return to Australia with all charges against Marcus cleared. They are now trying to return to normal life on the Gold Coast.