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.
— Ryan Pate, a helicopter mechanic who was jailed in the United Arab Emirates for a rant he posted on Facebook about his UAE-based employer, Global Aerospace Logistics, with which he was having a dispute over his physical ability to keep working. While using Facebook in Florida, he referred to the company he contracts for as backstabbers and warned others against working for it, according to the BBC. When Pate went to the UAE, he was arrested on charges of breaking cyber slander laws.
Pate spent 10 days in jail last month, is now out on bail, and is awaiting a March 17 trial. He could face five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
U.S. Rep. David Jolly, who represents the Florida district where Pate grew up, is hoping to meet with the UAE s ambassador to the United States, according to the Tampa Tribune.
Pate s Facebook comments included a reference to filthy Arabs. Charges against those disparaging comments were dropped, Pate told the Tribune.
Photo from Associated Press archives
