Killing Time: Surviving Dubai's Most Notorious Prisons
Karl Williams
Apr 2016 · Pan Macmillan
4.0star
11 reviewsreport
Ebook
288
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
As seen in BBC3's documentary series High: Surviving a Dubai Drugs Bust, Karl Williams describes being banged up in brutal conditions in this gritty autobiography.
Karl was on holiday in Dubai, living it large with two English friends, when they were accused of drug dealing, arrested, and tortured by police. They were innocent, but the authorities didn't care. And so began their year-long nightmare as they were locked up in Port Rashid where prisoners of all nationalities were crammed into stinking cells, violence could erupt in seconds, and control of the jail was in the hands of a few powerful inmates. Unless you knew the right people and could work the system, you were screwed.
Karl managed to rise up the prison pecking order, making friends with local gangsters, Russian mafia and other assorted murderers, drug dealers, fraudsters and hapless innocents he encountered behind bars. But it was hard to stay positive when facing life or the death penalty . . . and then he was moved to the notorious Central prison, a terrifying place where HIV positive prisoners were used by gangsters to infect their enemies; and murders and rape were common. When Karl had lost all hope of finding justice, Reprieve, an organization of committed human rights defenders, took up his case.
Raw, totally gripping, and at times brutally funny, Killing Time takes you behind the shiny desert paradise to the heart of the real Dubai.
Karl was on holiday in Dubai, living it large with two English friends, when they were accused of drug dealing, arrested, and tortured by police. They were innocent, but the authorities didn't care. And so began their year-long nightmare as they were locked up in Port Rashid where prisoners of all nationalities were crammed into stinking cells, violence could erupt in seconds, and control of the jail was in the hands of a few powerful inmates. Unless you knew the right people and could work the system, you were screwed.
Karl managed to rise up the prison pecking order, making friends with local gangsters, Russian mafia and other assorted murderers, drug dealers, fraudsters and hapless innocents he encountered behind bars. But it was hard to stay positive when facing life or the death penalty . . . and then he was moved to the notorious Central prison, a terrifying place where HIV positive prisoners were used by gangsters to infect their enemies; and murders and rape were common. When Karl had lost all hope of finding justice, Reprieve, an organization of committed human rights defenders, took up his case.
Raw, totally gripping, and at times brutally funny, Killing Time takes you behind the shiny desert paradise to the heart of the real Dubai.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
11 reviews
James Ellis
- Flag inappropriate
December 28, 2016
I could not put this book down. It's depressing at times, but it kept me hooked to find out what happened. What a nightmare. Very good read
2 people found this review helpful
stephen duggan
- Flag inappropriate
March 20, 2017
Read it while at work didn't want to put it down just gripping some sad parts but I recommend it to friends
2 people found this review helpful
Kevin Flynn
- Flag inappropriate
June 19, 2016
Sadend by this book but couldn't put it down
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Karl Williams is a singer-songwriter from London who has previously toured with musician Maverick Sabre. He plans to release his first EP, inspired by his incarceration in Dubai, in January 2017. He is also brand ambassador for clothing line Gabicci.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
