Football coach jailed for 25 years in Dubai

[I'm With Stupid]

Absolutely but that doesn’t excuse being held for 14 days without counsel and then being told to sign something in Arabic.

Exactly. People seem to be forgetting about this particular detail. It's one thing to say that you should respect a country's laws when you go there. It's quite another to make excuses for a regime that is locking people up without a fair trial and forcing confessions. Let's be honest, it's laughable that any signed document is admissible in court when the person who signed it clearly doesn't speak the language it's written in.

 

[SWP's back]

Exactly. People seem to be forgetting about this particular detail. It's one thing to say that you should respect a country's laws when you go there. It's quite another to make excuses for a regime that is locking people up without a fair trial and forcing confessions. Let's be honest, it's laughable that any signed document is admissible in court when the person who signed it clearly doesn't speak the language it's written in.

and according to Detained in Dubai, it's a common tactic. Keep someone locked up and upset and then say "Sign this and you can go" then bam! 25 years.

 

[west didsblue]

As are Israel who are in breach of many UN resolutions as well - why should they? I am in no way saying its acceptable but thats the world as of now

Even the whataboutery doesn’t make much sense in this case.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

So if the story is next week gay Brit gets thrown off building that’s okay as long as it’s the law?

I shall remember this next time you moan about anything a government does that is legal within the laws of its own country.

The punishment is extreme, but the authorities will point to the deterrent effect it clearly (successfully) creates.

One thing we must all remember us that certain countries have laws that seem archaic, cruel and sometimes outrageous to people from elsewhere. Heck, I was derided for supporting the death penalty recently and yet it was legal during my lifetime, so even changes within our own society can cause problems.

While I have no problem with strong anti-drug laws (as I sit in Denver where the skunk smell is EVERYWHERE!), it appears there may have been some railroading here, regardless of guilt or innocence.

For me, it’s deportation, with a possible agreement to serve some time in Britain, and a ban from the UAE for 25 yrs.

 

[hilts]

They’re allowed.

In the whole of the Middle East?

 

[SWP's back]

In the whole of the Middle East?

Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar is a yes.

KSA is a no unless a private beach. Iran is a no.

Yemen you’d probably be bombed by a Saudi plane with weapons made in the U.K.

 

[BrianW]

If I was visiting a foreign country with draconian laws (which includes the USA in my opinion, never mind Muslim countries) I would be very careful not to break them.

It's tough, but that's how the world works.