An Emirati father has described how his family was pulled over and held at gunpoint by police in Switzerland, before he and his wife were handcuffed in front of their children in a bizarre case of mistaken identity.
Bu Hamad, his wife and two children, four and six, found themselves surrounded by four police cars while driving between Zurich and Lugano while on holiday last week.
Armed officers from the cantonal police of Ticino took them into custody in what the family described as a frightening few hours. It later emerged that the family, which was on holiday in Austria and Switzerland, rented an Audi that police were looking for.
“At first I thought it was because of a traffic violation, but it was too aggressive," said Bu Hamad, 43, a senior financial officer for the government who asked not to be fully identified.
"They stopped traffic on the highway and came to us with their machine guns. They were wearing special forces-style police uniforms.
“They pointed their guns at my head and my wife’s head. They were seven armed officers and they spoke to us in their language, I could not understand anything.”
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Despite realising the incident must have been a mistake, Bu Hamad realised the matter was serious.
“So I told my wife 'just do as they tell you, whatever they ask you, answer them, don’t resist and don’t be aggressive'.”
“They pulled me and my wife out of the car, handcuffed us and made us stand us on the street under the rain. They were yelling at us in Italian, I think, and they were very rude and aggressive.”
Then one of the policemen finally spoke to him in broken English and explained to him that he was accused of ‘this and that’.
“They inspected me in the street in front of everyone. Then they asked me about the car, where I rented it from and when.”
He explained to them that he rented the vehicle on August 3 in Austria; he later discovered that the car had been wanted by the police since July.
“Then one of them said it is not good to leave us under the rain, so they put us back in the car. I told them I want to call my embassy they said ‘not now’.
“I could have remained silent, but I was confident that there was a mistake so I answered them to get it over with.”
After the police gathered their information while on the line with their headquarters, they took them to a police station in Bellinzona, Ticino.
During the ordeal, Bu Hamad's two sons, 4 and 6, were in a hysterical situation, he said, so a police woman drove his rented car with his wife and the children, and he was taken in the police car.
When they reached the station, they inspected him and took his iPad, documents and car papers.
“After they took everything they said 'there has been a misunderstanding'.”
“After they finished the questioning, they apologised to us."
Lulzana Musliu, a spokeswoman for Switzerland’s Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) told The National that the family's detention was a mistake.
“The persons in the car were not searched by police but the vehicle was," she said.
"This was due to hints to a possible threat. That’s why the people in this car were stopped and controlled.
“As it turned out they were not the persons we were looking for. They just happened to rent the car."
Following the incident, Bu Hamad raised the issue with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the UAE Embassy in Switzerland.
“The incident occurred on Thursday, so we are still following up through our embassy in Switzerland,” said a foreign affairs spokeswoman.
“But we need to highlight the fact that any person has the right to contact his or her embassy right away - not be made to wait until they reach a police station.”
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised the issue with Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
The spokeswoman added officials are aware of the "emotional damage the two children suffered".
Bu Hamad said he asked the embassy to recommend a lawyer, while he considers legal action.
“They aggressively stopped us in public and in front of our children, it was unnecessary to use this excessive force", he said.
His children have become uneasy around police, he said.
“We were sitting by the lake and they saw two cops walk by, and they freaked out and yelled ‘they will come take us now'."
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: Automatic
Power: 530bhp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh535,000
On sale: Now
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHayvn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Flinos%2C%20Ahmed%20Ismail%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efinancial%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2044%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseries%20B%20in%20the%20second%20half%20of%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHilbert%20Capital%2C%20Red%20Acre%20Ventures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Belong%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Michael%20Askew%20and%20Matthew%20Gaziano%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243.5%20million%20from%20crowd%20funding%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Mountain%20Boy
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