‘I never thought I would come home’

A British-Mexican man convicted of drug offenses in Qatar after being jailed there for six months told BBC News he “never thought I’d be coming home”.

In his first interview since leaving the country, Mr. Manuel Guerrero Aviña, who says he was targeted because he is gay, warned LGBT people to “be careful when visiting Qatar”, and said: “What happened to me can happen to anyone.”

He was arrested in February after arranging to meet a man – who he later found out was an undercover police officer – using the gay dating app Grindr.

Human rights groups have expressed concern over Manuel’s arrest and called his trial “grossly unfair” – but Qatari officials have maintained that he is being held on drug charges.

The 45-year-old former British Airways woman now wants to focus on getting back to work and spending time with her family.

Manuel made international headlines following his arrest and his family started a campaign for his release.

In a hearing in Junehe was found guilty of possession of an illegal drug, given a six-month suspended sentence, fined £2,100 and had to be deported.

After returning to the UK, he – for the first time – gave a first-hand account of his 44 days in a Qatari prison and subsequent detention in the country.

“There were many times when I was scared,” said Manuel.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk.

“I thought I would get lost in the process.

“I was really scared.

“I never thought I would return home safely.”

Manuel has been insisting that the police planted drugs in his apartment and says the real reason for his arrest is his sexuality.

“I absolutely deny the drug charges,” he told BBC News.

“In all the interrogations, everything they asked me was about my sexual partners, the way I sleep, whether I have had sex, who I slept with and so on.

“If it was a drug case, they would ask me about drugs.”

Homosexuality is a crime in Qatar and human rights organizations have taken action expressed concern over and over again about the treatment of LGBT people in the country.

But Manuel said he has lived there for seven years without getting into trouble with the police.

“There seemed to be an unwritten rule that whatever happened in private was okay,” he said.

“I thought I was following the rules wisely there [in public] and I follow the rules – but I’ve been trying to live a little bit of my life behind doors.

“I thought it was fine as long as it wasn’t public.”

BBC News previously reported howon February 4, Manuel was messaging the man on the dating apps Grindr and Tinder and invited him to his apartment.

After meeting the man in the lobby of his building, Manuel says he was instead met by police who handcuffed him before searching his apartment, eventually arresting him.

During his detention, Manuel says, he witnessed people being beaten and placed in cramped conditions after refusing to open his phone or reveal the names and phone numbers of other LGBT people living in Qatar.

“They were trying to force me to confess and open my phone – but I couldn’t put other people in the gay community at risk,” he said.

“Why am I putting someone else through that pain?”

BBC News has seen the confession, written in Arabic, which Manuel says he was forced to thumbprint without the presence of a lawyer or the help of a translator.

We cannot independently verify all of his claims.

Many of the allegations about his post-arrest treatment are related to the time he spent in solitary confinement with few witnesses.

But Guerrero Aviña’s family has shared a detailed timeline of events — and previous reports about the treatment of LGBT people and police behavior in Qatar suggest others have had similar experiences.

A Qatari official told BBC News that Manuel was treated “with dignity and respect during his detention” and was sentenced “following an investigation and trial”.

He was arrested for “possession of an illegal drug” and “no other things were checked during the arrest”.

“Mr. Aviña and his family made many false allegations in an attempt to gain public sympathy and support for his case,” said the official.

“A person’s beliefs, his origin or the way he lives does not exempt him from the law, especially if he is facing serious charges related to drug possession.

“Qatar has strict laws governing the supply of illegal drugs – and the authorities continue to work to combat this issue.

“As Mr. Aviña himself admitted, he lived in Qatar for seven years without any problems.”

But former British ambassador to Qatar and director of human rights organization FairSquare James Lynch said the case was “grossly unfair” and likened it to other cases he has dealt with.

“Manuel was clearly targeted because he was LGBT and living in Qatar and living his life,” Mr Lynch said.

“In the past three years, we have faced many cases of people who were arrested and investigated without a lawyer.

“The Qataris must correct the way justice is done in the country.”

Manuel, who is living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is also being supported by HIV charities in the UK, after allegations that he was not regularly given his medication, which keeps the virus under control.

He said: “I had to beg every day in prisons to try and get my medication.

“It was a really difficult time for me without getting my medication, because you’re worried about the effects on your health and it affects your mental health.”

Now back in the UK, Manuel says, he is getting medical help and is slowly being able to be his true self.

“It’s not about seeing symbols everywhere like rainbows or flags,” she said.

“More than that it feels amazing to be able to recover some of the little things that you don’t realize are missing until you return them.

“Things like seeing people holding hands on the street, I can be loving with my friends without thinking about how we interact with each other, I can do that without being locked in the door.”