Think twice...

[maninblack]

...about what you say before flying EK through Dubai :!:
What the f...? Ex-trooper's desert dilemma

 

[samh004]

It does seem a little unlucky, but there must be more to this story than meets the eye. However I'd probably do the same if someone grabbed me and they didn't have identification on them.

I'm surprised the Australian government hasn't done anything, but as I said, there must be more to the story.

Seems a little too much to be saying he's been watching Australian videos to feel at home, ever going as far as saying he watched a video of the Last Post. Granted, he's a soldier, but still seems to be piling it on too much.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

i read about this a week or 2 ago. made me think if it happened to me i'd fall to the ground writhing in agony. maybe i coudl get some compensation out of the person doing the rough handling.

i suppose while people still go there they will get away with this kind of behaviour.

 

[dajop]

It does seem a little unlucky, but there must be more to this story than meets the eye.

Yes it does seem a bit odd. I too can't help but think there is more to it than meets the eye, particularly given:

He had visited Dubai about 20 times over the past three years without incident, he said

 

[Mal]

It sounds unusual to have an undercover police officer ask for ID at an airport. I wonder what is the rest of the story...

I'm surprised the Australian government hasn't done anything, but as I said, there must be more to the story.

Here's where I disagree. DFAT and overseas embassies aren't a rescue service who should save idiots and other people from jail. If you visit a country and swear at someone you shouldn't, or 'borrow' a bar mat, or 'forget' to tell police you found your ipod many hours before reporting it stolen or a miriad of other crimes that people are arrested for overseas then the government should only offer reasonable support. (ie advice on getting a lawyer and your legal rights, some assistance with contacting relatives etc -- and even then some of those things may stretch the limit of reasonable assistance. ).

His case is unfortunate, but not unlike many other cases where someone is arrested overseas for doing something that they consider minor or not a crime - but turns out against the law.

Oh, and getting stupid statements like

Mr McKay said he was mentally prepared for the possibility of jail, although anticipated conditions would be "foul".

"They don't have the best record of human rights here," he said.

published in a paper won't help his case either I'm sure.

 

[medhead]

Come on Mal, he isn't some stupid tourist on holiday. What's the thing about visiting 20 times in the last 12 months. gee, I dare say he has been doing that for work. I know what I suspect about why he was there and part of that would suggest that the government should try to help a bit more than they do for a stolen bar mat.

Certainly, there is more to it IMO, and it could be similar to some stories that I heard in the early 1990s.

 

[samh004]

Here's where I disagree. DFAT and overseas embassies aren't a rescue service who should save idiots and other people from jail. If you visit a country and swear at someone you shouldn't, or 'borrow' a bar mat, or 'forget' to tell police you found your ipod many hours before reporting it stolen or a miriad of other crimes that people are arrested for overseas then the government should only offer reasonable support. (ie advice on getting a lawyer and your legal rights, some assistance with contacting relatives etc -- and even then some of those things may stretch the limit of reasonable assistance. ).

Oh I wasn't suggesting they just get him off. But if you were walking through an airport and someone in plain clothes came up to you and grabbed your wrist without identifying who they were, don't tell me you wouldn't say something rude or at least struggle, which might provoke something worse...?

So if it was as simple as that, I'd expect my embassy to say, hold on, wtf... it's absurd.

But as I said, something else is going on here, clearly.

 

[auriga]

I tend to agree.... there should be more to the story.

 

[openseat]

While it does seem somewhat over the top, Australians need to get over the fact that being Australian doesn't give a person the right to do what they want in another country. Boorish, yobbo behaviour is not tolerated elsewhere and that should be respected.
I think we are becoming a worse scourge than American or English tourists.

 

[Dave Noble]

I also don't see what it has to do with EK anyway; the person was stopped at the airport not on one of Emirates's aeroplanes.

I think that there is more to the story; anyway, since when is it a natural instinct to swear when something unexpected happens

Dave

 

[pblackm]

Another thing to consider here is that of cultural practices. In doing some research before my first (business) trip to Saudi Arabia, I discovered that it is not unusual for men to walk holding hands whilst discussing.

A few days later, at a site inspection, I was taken aside by a colleague to discuss something quietly. I did not overreact, especially as the guy was very hetero and a former body builder. Yes, I have seen lots of men there doing this, as the information suggested.

So in this context, a plain clothes officer my think that taking/holding/grabbing the wrist is par of the course.

As this incident shows, it is best to take a deep breath when under pressure in another country. Their country, their laws and customs.

 

[maninblack]

I also don't see what it has to do with EK anyway; the person was stopped at the airport not on one of Emirates's aeroplanes.

It is not specifically about EK but they are wholly owned by the Emirates Group which is 100% owned by the Dubai government who of course own the airport and control the police and and security services not to mention the security staff who are reputed to be on every EK flight. The vast majority of Australians who set foot in Dubai or it's airport are traveling on the aforementioned carrier and therefore...think twice about what you say.

 

[JohnK]

It would be nice to have the whole story.

The Adelaide man said he was grabbed on the wrist and yanked by a stranger at Dubai International Airport, and instinctively said: "What the f---?".
But the man was a plainclothes airport policeman, and Mr McKay was charged with insulting him and his passport was confiscated.

He just happened to be grabbed on the wrist and yanked by a plain clothes policeman? Why? "Excuse me!" would have been an appropriate response.

But looking at the other side of the story since when has "What the f---?" been a form of insult? After all it is an accepted, innocent, phrase in today's society....

 

[pblackm]

It would be nice to have the whole story.


He just happened to be grabbed on the wrist and yanked by a plain clothes policeman? Why? "Excuse me!" would have been an appropriate response.

But looking at the other side of the story since when has "What the f---?" been a form of insult? After all it is an accepted, innocent, phrase in today's society....

Today's society? Try saying that next time you are in the USA and see what happens.

 

[Dave Noble]

But looking at the other side of the story since when has "What the f---?" been a form of insult? After all it is an accepted, innocent, phrase in today's society....

I wouldn't say that swearing is an accepted innocent activity in all society

Dave

 

[Mal]

Come on Mal, he isn't some stupid tourist on holiday. What's the thing about visiting 20 times in the last 12 months. gee, I dare say he has been doing that for work. I know what I suspect about why he was there and part of that would suggest that the government should try to help a bit more than they do for a stolen bar mat.

He is the standard ex-military person who after being discharged has gotten into the Private Security Industry and become a gun for hire.

Just because someone has been to a country 20 times in a few years, doesn't mean they know+understand local cultures and laws. Schapelle was a good example of that... (assuming she is guilty, but I'd prefer to not focus on that in this thread).

I suspect there is a lot more to this story, and perhaps that he was under investigation by the police or being watched. The articles aren't clear as to which side of the terminal he was on, whether he was waiting for someone to arrive or had just arrived or was about to depart etc.

A more complete article is here:
'What the f---?' Aussie arrested in Dubai after swearing at policeman

including:

Consular staff met Mr McKay but said that he used “insulting and inappropriate language” towards them. Mr McKay denies this.

 

[medhead]

He is the standard ex-military person who after being discharged has gotten into the Private Security Industry and become a gun for hire.

Yep I guess so and I've heard first hand account so of people's friends being effectively detained (refused premission to leave the country) in that region to force them to keep providing services.

Otherwise, if he is there helping to pursue the grand triumvate's war, then I would thing that the Australian government should support the guy who is there caught up in the cough that the government started.

I think that there is more to the story; anyway, since when is it a natural instinct to swear when something unexpected happens

Dave

Have you done military service Dave? My experience with the army is that it is exactly normal to swear in normal conversation and especially when somethign unexpected happens.

 

[NM]

My experience with the army is that it is exactly normal to swear in normal conversation and especially when somethign unexpected happens.

What is normal in one environment may not be acceptable in another. For example, no matter how common it may be in the army, such language is not be acceptable in my home.

 

[Alanslegal]

Swearing and using offensive language is definitely inappropriate but the truth is everyone is capable of swearing and use offensive language - with or without the intention of doing so.

 

[Dave Noble]

What is normal in one environment may not be acceptable in another. For example, no matter how common it may be in the army, such language is not be acceptable in my home.

prezactly. This wasn't an army base , this was in a public place in Dubai Airport

Dave