

Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail - ajaymehta
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/facebook-post-inked-in-florida-lands-us-man-in-united-arab-emirates-jail/

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TillE
I really can't understand why well-off Westerners continue to work in or visit
the UAE, Qatar, etc. You have a choice. Unless you're doing some kind of
humanitarian or cultural work which actually requires you to be there, stay
the hell away.

~~~
subliminalpanda
Low cost of living, high salary and no income tax. My sister works as an
attorney for a global law firm in Dubai, and the attitude that westerners have
there is like they're exploiting a rainforest for its goods. You move there
for 4 or 5 years, rack up a huge sum and head back to your country of origin
with a huge chunk of change.

Although I imagine for Americans this will be more difficult now with FACTA
laws.

~~~
level09
>Low cost of living

Not really true

[http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-
living/rankings.jsp](http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp)

however, many companies offer housing as part of their packages.

~~~
enraged_camel
Yeah. My cousin works in Qatar and while his salary is around $50,000, he
lives in a 4-bedroom condo on the top floor that overlooks the ocean and his
company pays for it.

~~~
ghostly_s
50k (even cash) is not _nearly_ enough for the tradeoff of life in a regime
like UAE to be worth it.

~~~
level09
Don't really think that guy was getting a 50K package.

The salary I can imagine for an American engineer working in Abu Dhabi would
be a minimum of 100,000 - 180,000+ USD , and it is tax free (usually comes
with additional benefits).

Abu Dhabi is a rich city (they got oil) and they usually pay more than Dubai.

Source: I live here, and run a startup and work with multiple companies and
consultants.

~~~
enraged_camel
He's not an engineer.

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qq66
The unusual thing here is that a man is being prosecuted for a Facebook post.
The fact that he is being prosecuted for something he wrote in the US is not
at all unusual. The United States routinely prosecutes Americans who engage in
actions which are illegal in the United States, even if the actions are legal
in the country in which the action takes place. The US government invokes this
extraterritorial jurisdiction mainly for two categories of crimes: sex crimes
against minors and corruption/bribery.

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mullingitover
It's beautifully ironic that this was man was arrested at the employer's
request, because the man portrayed them negatively. Yeah. Global Aerospace
Logistics sure looks like a bunch of swell chaps now, I bet people are lining
up to beg to work for them.

~~~
yardie
Well, a new position just opened. So...

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EdwardDiego
Good news everyone, his employers are hiring:
[http://www.gal.ae/careers/Jobs.aspx](http://www.gal.ae/careers/Jobs.aspx)

Just don't "slander" them.

~~~
Sanddancer
Yep, and you'll be working to train your replacement the entire time [1]. So
maybe their complaint is going to be that they're not backstabbers, but that
you're signing up to be gutted when you take the job.

[1] [http://www.gal.ae/emir.aspx](http://www.gal.ae/emir.aspx)

~~~
asadlionpk
They are thinking good for their countrymen. I don't see why that is
wrongdoing. Their non-Emirati employees do get paid for their work while they
are there.

~~~
gaius
And they are honest and upfront about it, many Western companies aren't.

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paulsutter
> Ryan Pate ... is accused of slandering his employer, which is illegal in the
> Emirates... He wrote in December about his superiors at Global Aerospace
> Logistics being "backstabbers."

Slander is making /false/ defamatory statements. By reporting him to the
police on his return trip, his superiors have proven themselves to be
backstabbers.

Where's the slander?

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vertis
This is not exactly in the same category, but as I was coming back to
Australia a few weeks ago I saw a sign stating that Australia considered child
abuse committed internationally to be a crime and would prosecute.

With regard to this particular case, it really is your responsibility to know
the laws of the place you're going to.

~~~
klodolph
I always assumed this was because Australia was relatively close to "popular"
sex tourism destinations. You don't want to be known for exporting child
abusers.

~~~
vertis
I think it's for that reason and also a broader international effort to combat
the problem.

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616c
This is not very surprising, especially to residents in Qatar, as there has
been great anxiety and lack of clarity over the country's first cyber law.

[http://dohanews.co/criticism-qatars-cybercrime-law-mounts-
ho...](http://dohanews.co/criticism-qatars-cybercrime-law-mounts-home-abroad/)
‎

Granted, they will tell you it is because of acts of cybervandalism and
computer intrusion by hacktivists from the likes of the Syrian Hacker Army and
company. Now, those groups have attacked even infrastructure of companies like
Qatar Petroleum or RasGas (I forget which one). Now, none of us trust the law
because of slander/libel provisions.

However, I do not think Americans ought to talk. We have bounced foreigners on
entry to the US for non-sensical Facebook commentary about getting wrecked in
America, somehow construed to mean they will go on a terror rampage.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30267026](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
politics-30267026)

So, yeah, fellow Americans. We should get off our high horse.

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hmoghnie
A small reminder to never work in those countries. Only the desperate ones go
there.

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ilitirit
I'm always amused by the typical comments posted after every story like this.
Yes, many places in the ME do have some really archaic laws, but you're more
likely to have to get arrested and forced to pay a bribe in places like
Thailand, China, many African and South American countries etc. In Thailand
you can get arrested for insulting the king (and I won't be surprised if
they'd do that over a FaceBook post written in a different country). However,
it's not often you hear people advise westerners against going there.

~~~
peterjancelis
The fact that you can pay it off with a bribe makes it much less threatening.

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jrockway
I'm not a lawyer, but why would he admit to it?

> "I just couldn't register it in my head because as an American growing up in
> the United States, the First Amendment right is just ingrained in my brain,"
> he told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

I think the correct defense is to make them prove that he wrote, then if they
prove he did, start saying "well I thought it was OK".

~~~
usbreply
This isn't America. They don't have to prove (in a court of law) that he wrote
it. Their accusation is sufficient. The facebook page has his name on it,
"everybody knows" that he wrote it.

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leeoniya
so, this was a public post? or he was friends with everyone he was
badmouthing? illegal or not, that's plain poor decision making.

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higherpurpose
Amnesty International released this tool a while ago to see what "crimes"
you're committing with your posts in other countries:

[http://www.trialbytimeline.org.nz/](http://www.trialbytimeline.org.nz/)

Also, once again civil libertarians were right: when US starts arresting
people from across the globe for doing "crimes" that hardly have anything to
do with its jurisdiction, eventually other countries will start doing the same
with Americans, knowing that it's "okay" to do that.

~~~
thret
I just ran this for two hours and it was still thinking when I gave up. What
if anything does it actually do?

~~~
dmd
That's the point. You're held indefinitely without trial.

