Dubai Express: Cat Le-Huy's Unjust Imprisonment
February 17, 2008 1:34 PM Subscribe
Dubai's 5 Star Injustices This is a tale of a beautiful creative girl and her partner Cat Le-Huy.
"31-year-old Cat Le-Huy, Head of Technology at Endemol UK, was detained and arrested during a tourist visit to Dubai for carrying melatonin, an over-the-counter jet lag aid."
My community of artists and friends, models, geeks, acquaintances and associates have been campaigning to keep this case on a front burner, having crafted petitions, been covered on the BBC and arranged a donation system for possible legal fees, all in order to save an innocent man from 4 years in a Dubai prison. It seems all we hear most about Dubai, is of the opulent resorts, yet there are other stories: Cat Le-Huy's unjust imprisonment, is but one of them.
Dubai as much as it hates bad publicity, deserves proper exposure.
"31-year-old Cat Le-Huy, Head of Technology at Endemol UK, was detained and arrested during a tourist visit to Dubai for carrying melatonin, an over-the-counter jet lag aid."
My community of artists and friends, models, geeks, acquaintances and associates have been campaigning to keep this case on a front burner, having crafted petitions, been covered on the BBC and arranged a donation system for possible legal fees, all in order to save an innocent man from 4 years in a Dubai prison. It seems all we hear most about Dubai, is of the opulent resorts, yet there are other stories: Cat Le-Huy's unjust imprisonment, is but one of them.
Dubai as much as it hates bad publicity, deserves proper exposure.
This post was deleted for the following reason: There could be a pretty decent post about drug laws and tourist culture lurking in here, but as is this is pretty much built around "donate money, sign my petition" stuff, which isn't a great use of the front page. There might be room for Projects for some aspect of that, but not here. -- cortex
Dubai is a piece of shit country with too much money built on top of the backs of its migrant workers.
OutrageComment.
posted by chunking express at 1:44 PM on February 17, 2008
OutrageComment.
posted by chunking express at 1:44 PM on February 17, 2008
I think it's important that her treatment be monitored constantly. Preferably using hidden cameras. Then the footage could be broadcast live and viewers worldwide could vote for her release.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:45 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:45 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
OK, so a "beautiful creative girl's" partner was picked up in some shithole, your "community of artists and friends, models, geeks, acquaintances and associates" are hard at work on the case, and you need our help too? That's too fucking funny.
Get over yourself.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 1:51 PM on February 17, 2008 [3 favorites]
Get over yourself.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 1:51 PM on February 17, 2008 [3 favorites]
> Meanwhile, a Swiss national is serving a four-year jail term after three poppy seeds from a bread roll he ate at Heathrow airport were found on his clothes.
Christ, what a bunch of assholes.
posted by you just lost the game at 1:52 PM on February 17, 2008
Christ, what a bunch of assholes.
posted by you just lost the game at 1:52 PM on February 17, 2008
GROOVERIDER NO :(
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:53 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:53 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
This is a matter for the embassy. Not MetaFilter. I've even done the heavy Googling for you.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:55 PM on February 17, 2008
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:55 PM on February 17, 2008
According to the first link, the German consulate is already on the case.
One wonders what nationality The Cat is. His name sounds Vietnamese or possibly Cantonese. His employer Endemol, of course, is Dutch, and they are the fine folks who brought you Big Brother. I'm not saying this is poetic justice, though.
posted by sour cream at 2:01 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
One wonders what nationality The Cat is. His name sounds Vietnamese or possibly Cantonese. His employer Endemol, of course, is Dutch, and they are the fine folks who brought you Big Brother. I'm not saying this is poetic justice, though.
posted by sour cream at 2:01 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
Thanks, sour cream. I just saw "Endemol UK" and jumped to the obvious conclusion. So, yes, replace "UK" with whatever citizenship this Cat person holds, and go talk to the embassy or consulate.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:04 PM on February 17, 2008
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:04 PM on February 17, 2008
Girl? How old is she?
And does she have a name?
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:04 PM on February 17, 2008
And does she have a name?
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:04 PM on February 17, 2008
When they came for Grooverider and I said nothing. When they came for Ed Rush & Optical, I again said nothing. Now there is no one to yell REEEEWIIIIIIIIIND for me.
posted by basicchannel at 2:25 PM on February 17, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by basicchannel at 2:25 PM on February 17, 2008 [3 favorites]
I'll say a "BOH! SELECTA!" for you, basicchannel.
Anyway, what's with the outrage? The Dubai fundamentalists are the good guys. Do you think Haliburton would build their headquarters there if they weren't? It's only the fundamentalists that aren't heavily involved with US business interests that are backward and evil.
Funny story: I own and operate a retail store which rents private mailboxes. One of our tenants regularly has his mail forwarded to the UAE. Another guy, with a similar Arabic name, apparently rented a mailbox for the sole purpose of getting porno DVDs shipped to him clandestinely. One of my employees mistakenly forwarded a porno DVD to the guy in the UAE. Porno, imported to the UAE. The poor guy was almost arrested and narrowly escaped god-knows-whatever they do to importers of porn by pointing out that the name on the DVD wasn't his. He was surprisingly not pissed off, appreciating the humor of the situation. The porno DVD most likely ended up in the personal collection of some UAE customs agent along with everything else they confiscate.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:37 PM on February 17, 2008
Anyway, what's with the outrage? The Dubai fundamentalists are the good guys. Do you think Haliburton would build their headquarters there if they weren't? It's only the fundamentalists that aren't heavily involved with US business interests that are backward and evil.
Funny story: I own and operate a retail store which rents private mailboxes. One of our tenants regularly has his mail forwarded to the UAE. Another guy, with a similar Arabic name, apparently rented a mailbox for the sole purpose of getting porno DVDs shipped to him clandestinely. One of my employees mistakenly forwarded a porno DVD to the guy in the UAE. Porno, imported to the UAE. The poor guy was almost arrested and narrowly escaped god-knows-whatever they do to importers of porn by pointing out that the name on the DVD wasn't his. He was surprisingly not pissed off, appreciating the humor of the situation. The porno DVD most likely ended up in the personal collection of some UAE customs agent along with everything else they confiscate.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:37 PM on February 17, 2008
Here's an idea: Stop going to countries like this. That includes the entire Middle East and Singapore, for starters.
Perhaps if Dubai couldn't bring in foreign experts to fix their shiny buildings and cutting-edge infrastructure, they might stop this kind of thing.
posted by Mitrovarr at 2:39 PM on February 17, 2008
Perhaps if Dubai couldn't bring in foreign experts to fix their shiny buildings and cutting-edge infrastructure, they might stop this kind of thing.
posted by Mitrovarr at 2:39 PM on February 17, 2008
I get a little annoyed by focusing on individual cases. I realize that's how most people form emotional connections with issues like these, but it obscures the bigger picture. The fact is, there are a lot of people who suffer this fate going through Dubai Airport. Another example is Keith Brown who was sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison for having marijuana stuck to his shoe (He's British). Obviously, he could have picked it up anywhere.
posted by delmoi at 2:48 PM on February 17, 2008
posted by delmoi at 2:48 PM on February 17, 2008
Here's an idea: Stop going to countries like this. That includes the entire Middle East and Singapore, for starters.
I think that's pretty unlikely given the money they're willing to pay. Also in Keith Brown's case, he was just transferring planes there on a trip back from Ethiopia. It sounds like it would be difficult to avoid that airport if you were visiting anywhere around the middle east.
posted by delmoi at 2:53 PM on February 17, 2008
I think that's pretty unlikely given the money they're willing to pay. Also in Keith Brown's case, he was just transferring planes there on a trip back from Ethiopia. It sounds like it would be difficult to avoid that airport if you were visiting anywhere around the middle east.
posted by delmoi at 2:53 PM on February 17, 2008
Here's an idea: Stop going to countries like this. That includes the entire Middle East and Singapore, for starters.
I think the Swiss guy imprisoned for the poppy seeds was only in transit, he wasn't stopping over in Dubai. So even if you don't actually intend to go to Dubai, you could end up in jail if your flight touches down there (and you ate a bagel).
It's a bit worrying for me, as I've stopped in Dubai in transit several times. Never intentionally carrying drugs, of course, but now I've got to be sure I don't carry legal over-the-counter sleep remedies and don't go anywhere near bagels.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 2:58 PM on February 17, 2008
I think the Swiss guy imprisoned for the poppy seeds was only in transit, he wasn't stopping over in Dubai. So even if you don't actually intend to go to Dubai, you could end up in jail if your flight touches down there (and you ate a bagel).
It's a bit worrying for me, as I've stopped in Dubai in transit several times. Never intentionally carrying drugs, of course, but now I've got to be sure I don't carry legal over-the-counter sleep remedies and don't go anywhere near bagels.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 2:58 PM on February 17, 2008
oops. should have previewed.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 2:58 PM on February 17, 2008
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 2:58 PM on February 17, 2008
delmoi: I think that's pretty unlikely given the money they're willing to pay.
Business insurers should refuse to cover any expedition to the middle east. Companies should be held liable if employees are subjected to this kind of crap. Governments should issue advisories on the line of 'Seriously, don't go to these places if you don't want this to happen to you.' Stop offering visas to their citizens - their governments will climb all over themselves to do it to ours.
Also in Keith Brown's case, he was just transferring planes there on a trip back from Ethiopia. It sounds like it would be difficult to avoid that airport if you were visiting anywhere around the middle east.
Don't go to the bloody middle east, there isn't any part of it that doesn't do this except Israel, and they won't have a transferring flight in another middle eastern country. Alternately, sue the airlines for exposing their passengers to this danger.
If anything good has come from our meddling around in the Middle East in any way, shape, or form, I haven't seen it. Let's develop alternative energy means and cordon off that corner of the world until it develops further, prime-directive style.
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:02 PM on February 17, 2008
Business insurers should refuse to cover any expedition to the middle east. Companies should be held liable if employees are subjected to this kind of crap. Governments should issue advisories on the line of 'Seriously, don't go to these places if you don't want this to happen to you.' Stop offering visas to their citizens - their governments will climb all over themselves to do it to ours.
Also in Keith Brown's case, he was just transferring planes there on a trip back from Ethiopia. It sounds like it would be difficult to avoid that airport if you were visiting anywhere around the middle east.
Don't go to the bloody middle east, there isn't any part of it that doesn't do this except Israel, and they won't have a transferring flight in another middle eastern country. Alternately, sue the airlines for exposing their passengers to this danger.
If anything good has come from our meddling around in the Middle East in any way, shape, or form, I haven't seen it. Let's develop alternative energy means and cordon off that corner of the world until it develops further, prime-directive style.
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:02 PM on February 17, 2008
RubberHen: This is a tale of a beautiful creative girl [...]
Relevant?
posted by loiseau at 3:04 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
Relevant?
posted by loiseau at 3:04 PM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America -- dude -- I just think that the situation stinks and to help I would try to let as many people know about it as possible, providing links to other people who have also gone through some incredible BS.
Personally, I would not go to Dubai, or any other country where insane practices can break out at any hellhole moment
I heard about this whole situation, from my longtime friend Paul, who knows the "creative girl", or Mildred ( corpse in the library that is for you -- sorry I did not include her ) for the record.
It is my opinion that if I were in a situation, to have so many people clamoring for my release would be about the only thing good one might have to cling to when faced with an absurd amount of time in prison for so minuscule an "infraction".
I can post here once ... and was not even sure my post would survive, but in putting together the admittedly hasty entry, inspired by Mildred's tireless bulletins and web entries at various places about her partner, I learned about some seriously screwed up practices. I just thought, so what of these ridiculous harbor projects and other luxurious crap I read about, let the ugly bad stuff be highlighted too. I hope the fellow gets out -- and I would wanna get the fk out too. I thought I might bring it some attention however might be possible, just in case, someone might know something, to help.
posted by RubberHen at 3:05 PM on February 17, 2008
Personally, I would not go to Dubai, or any other country where insane practices can break out at any hellhole moment
I heard about this whole situation, from my longtime friend Paul, who knows the "creative girl", or Mildred ( corpse in the library that is for you -- sorry I did not include her ) for the record.
It is my opinion that if I were in a situation, to have so many people clamoring for my release would be about the only thing good one might have to cling to when faced with an absurd amount of time in prison for so minuscule an "infraction".
I can post here once ... and was not even sure my post would survive, but in putting together the admittedly hasty entry, inspired by Mildred's tireless bulletins and web entries at various places about her partner, I learned about some seriously screwed up practices. I just thought, so what of these ridiculous harbor projects and other luxurious crap I read about, let the ugly bad stuff be highlighted too. I hope the fellow gets out -- and I would wanna get the fk out too. I thought I might bring it some attention however might be possible, just in case, someone might know something, to help.
posted by RubberHen at 3:05 PM on February 17, 2008
It's even worse, Kraftmatic. If you have codeine in your bloodstream, it counts as possession, and it's restricted in Dubai. That means four years in prison if you happen to take a Tylenol 1, which you can buy off the shelf in most countries.
Or if you were in some pot-smoker's downdraft in Amsterdam or Vancouver anytime in the last month or so, it might show up in your bloodstream. Four years in prison for you.
Seriously, don't go to Dubai. Don't go there for pleasure, don't go there for work, and don't get on a plane that flies over or near Dubai, just to be safe.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 3:08 PM on February 17, 2008
Or if you were in some pot-smoker's downdraft in Amsterdam or Vancouver anytime in the last month or so, it might show up in your bloodstream. Four years in prison for you.
Seriously, don't go to Dubai. Don't go there for pleasure, don't go there for work, and don't get on a plane that flies over or near Dubai, just to be safe.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 3:08 PM on February 17, 2008
Loiseau -- I know -- irrelevant [[ This is a tale of a beautiful creative girl ]] -- I was just imagining this weird fairy tale beginning, which I should have left out. But I hit post too soon. All in all -- just trying as I said I would to let people know about her partner's plight and in doing so, to show other screwed up stories of a place I did not know too much about.
I was also influenced by my friend telling me of what a creative vibrant person she is.
posted by RubberHen at 3:10 PM on February 17, 2008
I was also influenced by my friend telling me of what a creative vibrant person she is.
posted by RubberHen at 3:10 PM on February 17, 2008
Don't go to the bloody middle east, there isn't any part of it that doesn't do this except Israel
What's wrong with Lebanon?
posted by chunking express at 3:12 PM on February 17, 2008
What's wrong with Lebanon?
posted by chunking express at 3:12 PM on February 17, 2008
chunking express: What's wrong with Lebanon?
Well, except the part where it's been a war zone for the last thirty years, the part where Syria and Israel can't keep their hands off it, and the part where it is basically run by a terrorist group, I suppose it's ok.
Or were you joking?
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:15 PM on February 17, 2008
Well, except the part where it's been a war zone for the last thirty years, the part where Syria and Israel can't keep their hands off it, and the part where it is basically run by a terrorist group, I suppose it's ok.
Or were you joking?
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:15 PM on February 17, 2008
Someone who works for Endemol has finally been locked up. I fail to see the problem.
posted by fire&wings at 3:16 PM on February 17, 2008
posted by fire&wings at 3:16 PM on February 17, 2008
It's a good thing we don't have this kind of extreme anti-drug foolishness in the United States.
posted by Slothrup at 3:18 PM on February 17, 2008
posted by Slothrup at 3:18 PM on February 17, 2008
Don't go to the bloody middle east, there isn't any part of it that doesn't do this except Israel...
I don't know, I've passed through Kuwait a few times too and I've never seen any of those drug screening machines. I'm sure Kuwait has some barbaric punishments for people who traffic in the country, but they seem much more laid-back about people just passing through the airport.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 3:25 PM on February 17, 2008
I don't know, I've passed through Kuwait a few times too and I've never seen any of those drug screening machines. I'm sure Kuwait has some barbaric punishments for people who traffic in the country, but they seem much more laid-back about people just passing through the airport.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 3:25 PM on February 17, 2008
He lived and worked in Kandahar, in the middle of a war zone, as an official with the Ministry of Counter Narcotics.
Heh. Bert's getting a taste of his own medicine, if you ask me.
And does she have a name?
Isn't her name Young Fuck Toy? I'm guessing that's not her given name though?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:27 PM on February 17, 2008
Heh. Bert's getting a taste of his own medicine, if you ask me.
And does she have a name?
Isn't her name Young Fuck Toy? I'm guessing that's not her given name though?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:27 PM on February 17, 2008
Based on my experiences with technology at Endemol UK, four years is not nearly long enough.
posted by Hogshead at 3:29 PM on February 17, 2008
posted by Hogshead at 3:29 PM on February 17, 2008
I think the Swiss guy imprisoned for the poppy seeds was only in transit, he wasn't stopping over in Dubai. So even if you don't actually intend to go to Dubai, you could end up in jail if your flight touches down there (and you ate a bagel).
Perhaps suing the bejeezus out of the airlines whenever this happens might create a change in policy? If travellers pressure the airlines, and the airlines threaten to withdraw from Dubai - then at least the danger to transferring passengers will be mitigated.
Everyone else can enter that glittering hellhole at their own risk.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 3:30 PM on February 17, 2008
Perhaps suing the bejeezus out of the airlines whenever this happens might create a change in policy? If travellers pressure the airlines, and the airlines threaten to withdraw from Dubai - then at least the danger to transferring passengers will be mitigated.
Everyone else can enter that glittering hellhole at their own risk.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 3:30 PM on February 17, 2008
Perhaps suing the bejeezus out of the airlines whenever this happens might create a change in policy?
Right, that sounds like a good place to start. I wonder if any victims have tried this yet?
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 3:41 PM on February 17, 2008
Right, that sounds like a good place to start. I wonder if any victims have tried this yet?
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 3:41 PM on February 17, 2008
« Older Prince Rupert's Drops | Independent Kosovo? Why Not Vermont? Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by grouse at 1:37 PM on February 17, 2008