I don't know why anyone would visit a country with such insane laws, it's just too dangerous. Sure they seem to have a lot of interesting stuff going on and to see, but a big fat NOPE after you read anything about their rules and how they treat people!
Article is light on details other than to say he was carrying out “legitimate academic research into security policy following the Arab spring”. Let’s say that someone from say China came to the US to stake out airports and study the US’s airport security protocol. I’m not sure the outcome would be much different. Even if this was all totally above board it Seems a bit naive to think this isn’t something that you should get permission and clearance to do. I think the fact that it’s played out this way makes me think it was probably not strictly academic. I guess I will start DDGing more details.
It’s absurd that a British citizen, or a citizen of any democratic county, is living and studying in a repressive, corrupt and violent regime like the United Arab Emirates. These countries and their kleptocratic Sheikhs throw wealth derived from oil and blood at western universities, and bribe their officials into setting up “campuses” in their states. Then they get upset when arriving students don’t conform to the apathetic conformity drilled into their own citizens.<p>The Cold War is over. Yet somehow western democracies are still clinging on to alliances with barbarous regimes like Saudi Arabia and UAE. And now we see the fruits of it: Yemeni citivilians murdered during an unending war, a British citizen imprisoned for life for offending his hosts, and an agent of the Saudi royalty installed as president of the USA. What an utterly pathetic state of affairs.
<a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4684113/matthew-hedges-student-uae-prison-spying/" rel="nofollow">https://globalnews.ca/news/4684113/matthew-hedges-student-ua...</a><p>> Hedges, a 31-year-old doctoral student at Durham University, has been held in the UAE since May 5, when he was arrested at Dubai International Airport after a two-week research visit.<p>Surely you can't spy in any significant way on a country you entered 2 weeks ago.<p>> The hearing lasted less than five minutes and his lawyer was not present, his family said.
Surely even if he is a spy, the UK will eventually be able to negotiate his release? How many years could this take? UAE has a lot of revenue from tourism, I don't know how much of that is from the UK, but I assume that provides enough leverage to get something going. I just don't see a life sentence being a true life sentence for any <i>citizen</i> Westerner caught by a nation like the UAE.
How is this relevant to HN? Isn't "most political stuff" explicitly off topic?<p>Also, most people calling out UAE to be a "dangerous" place and make misinformed should really learn more before making blanket statements. I have lived there for half of my life and also lived in the world "largest democracy" and also in the US. I feel safer in the UAE as an immigrant than I do in either of those places.<p>For context, in India you have PSA, AFSPA, etc which are barbaric laws to which thousands of civilians have lost their lives. In the U.S, most of my Muslim friends (and myself included) feel constantly threatened by racism/xenophobia (this includes physical attacks).<p>Edit: PSA or Public Safety Act is when the Indian Government can "legally" detain you in Kashmir (an area illegally occupied by India, disregarding UN resolutions to hold a referendum) under the pretext that you are a threat to public safety. Children as young as 14 years old have been booked under this act, and jailed.<p>AFSPA (Armed Forced Special Powers Act) is when the Indian Armed forces can put a bullet in your head and face no judicial probe, which seems like a violation of international law to me.<p>Bet Saudi Arabia feels real safe now.
True story : I went on a vacation in Dubai and Abu Dabhi with my wife. 1-2 days priot I sold my iphone to some random guy and brought that cash with me. I imedietly exchanged 100 euros in Dubai after I landed to have some of their currency for small things. I also exchanged larger amount in a hotel before paying for it and moving to a different hotel to explore another part of the emirate.<p>Anyhow, one day later my phone is ringing with some strange number calling. It was a manager from the first hotel saying that I used counterfited euro bills in their hotel. My heart sank reeeally hard in an instant. He said he is sure because only I exchanged euros before they went to the bank to store the money or whatever. The bank informed them that they are fake bills and by the law he said they need to say who used them. BUT, that was my lucky day and the manager said that they did not report me and will not if I repay them with real money. I imidately agreed and asked them for a way to pay with a CC because I was in another part of the emirate, they agreed and that was settled, I overpeyed a bit because he probably saved me.<p>After that I ran to my room and took out all the bills I got from the iPhone sale and me and my wife needed almost an hour to figgure out that they are really fake, by looking over the internet and checking what is usually harder to fake. Tell tell sign was the 3d lines/bumps on parts of the bill. Everything else looked perfectly well!!! Now, I was confused why the money changer at the airport did not bust me right away so I went to a mall and exhanged another bill (which was real, not counterfited) and they just took it without checking. Few days later when leaving the country I was very scared on the boreder/aurport police check point but everything went well. Uff. I was so close to having a horror story myself... I immidiately reported to the police in my country what has happened.<p>Before this I never ever had such experience and always naively trusted random people when I bought and sold things on the internet. Now I know better. Was so close to be really screwed by some random guy because of some small amount of money.
for those that can't read WSJ<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46288510" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46288510</a>
These countries are great for vacations, to do business and to work...until they aren't. In reality, and backed by their laws, they are backward and savage fifth world countries. Stay the hell away, or at least calculate the risk of being framed for espionage for telling the truth about the royals or going to jail for consensual sex.
Yet no word about a Scot being tortured and electrocuted, held in jail for a year.<p><a href="https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/2604512/jagtar-singh-johal-charged-funding-murder-of-rss-leaders/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/2604512/jagtar-singh-j...</a>