SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
AP reports that Ryan Pate, a helicopter mechanic, took to Facebook while in Florida after a dispute over sick leave with his company and when he returned to Abu Dhabi last month, he was told to report to the police station, where he was arrested for breaking a United Arab Emirates law on slandering his employer. Pate was shown screenshots of the Facebook message and told his employer had filed charges accusing him of breaking wide-ranging Emirates laws that ban slander. The laws were introduced in late 2012 and make it an offense to use the net to mock or deride organizations and individuals. Pate spent about 10 days in jail and is now free on bail awaiting a March 17 trial. His supporters say he faces up to five years in prison and a steep fine if convicted. "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," says Pate. "I never even entertained the fact that I would wind up in prison out here for something I put on Facebook in the United States."
Pate's congressman, Rep. David Jolly, intervened on his constituent's behalf, lobbying the State Department and Emirates officials for help. In a letter to the Emirati attorney general, Jolly emphasized respect for the sovereignty of the country, but argued because the posts occurred while Pate was on American soil, those laws shouldn't apply. "It is deeply troubling that Mr. Pate now faces judicial proceedings over an action that was done legally in his home country," says Jolly. Speaking via phone from his apartment in Abu Dhabi, Pate was remorseful. “I just want to apologize to everybody I dragged into this,” he said. “It is embarrassing, and I never meant for this to happen. I let my emotions get the better of me.”
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 09 2015, @07:04PM
So, basically two counter-examples.
(1) As you said, Sklyarov was released.
(2) If Dotcom actually is extradited, then it will become an example, but until then his lack of extradition seems like proof to the contrary.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Tuesday March 10 2015, @02:24AM
You have an interesting definition of counter-example.
The examples we're looking for are cases where someone "faces judicial proceedings over an action that was done legally in his home country", and the U.S. is on the wrong side of Justice.
* The FBI arrested Skylarov, imprisoned him for over a month, and prevented him from returning home for another four months; this because he was listed as the author of a piece of software that was legal to write and sell in his home country. Over the following year he was required to testify in court hearings against his employer.
* The U.S. DOJ requested extradition of Kim Dotcom, as a result of which his home was raided and millions of dollars of his assets in New Zealand were seized and he was imprisoned. He spent the next two years and $10 million in court attempting to recover his assets and what was left of his good name.
In both of these cases judicial proceedings were faced due to alleged violation of U.S. law. Since their own governments weren't prosecuting them for going about their daily business at home I'm going to assume that their activities were legal in their home countries. I'd say they're actually both pretty good examples.
By the way, are you the same A.C. as originally asked for the examples? If you are, your position seems a bit inconsistent - "no extradition would qualify" conflicts with "If Dotcom actually is extradited, then it will become an example"...
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin