Why Do People Think They Can Do What They Like In Other Countries?

[youngmafbog]

http://news.sky.com/story/1348229/briton-jailed-in-morocco-for-homosexual-acts

I feel a bit sorry for the man, he is getting on a bit and it cannot be nice in their Jails but why do people go to foreign countries and think they can do what they like and then get bailed out by the UK Government?

This is just the latest case, we see hetersexual couple in Saudi mis-behaving and women refusing to abide by the local laws.

I know we dont give a damn about the indigenous populations culture in the UK but it is well known that other countries are very proud of theirs so why do it?

[237SJ]

Have you actually read the article? He wasn`t doing anything apart from standing at a bus stop with another man.

[Sqad]

I agree with YMG.........it is their country and their rules, traditions and punishments.
I do not believe they he was arrested for being at a bus stop with another man, as in the's Middle Eastern countries it is common place for men to be together and even holding hands.

There is more to this story.

[sandyRoe]

If he greased a few palms would his encounter with the police have been more emollient?

[anotheoldgit]

237SJ

/// Have you actually read the article? He wasn`t doing anything apart from standing at a bus stop with another man. ///

That is what the article claims, but do you really believe that is the only thing that they were arrested for?

If that was the case there would be no men (or even women) standing together at bus stops in Morocco.

[youngmafbog]

Yes, I did read the article, but it appears you didn't. From the article:

//Adrian Cole said his father and a friend were waiting at a bus stop when they were approached by police and asked why they were together. "They accessed my father's phone, and inside one of the folders they found a photograph that they said was compromising," he said.

"Based on that, they were charged with homosexuality."//

[Mamyalynne]

If we are being asked to either disregard what the article says or embroidery it , then the discussion falls a bit flat doesn't it.

[mikey4444]

Homesexuality in Morroco is hardly an unknown phenomena is it ?

According to the above Sky article and the BBC one, he was arrested for being gay, not for any actual offence. Lots of the places in the world are backward and have anti-gay laws but it doesn't make them right. This is the 21st century, not the Middle Ages.

[Gromit]

There is nothing in the article to indicate that they broke any laws in Morocco.

// "They accessed my father's phone, and inside one of the folders they found a photograph that they said was compromising," //

That is like going to Saudi Arabia and landing in jail because there was a picture of you drinking, stored on your phone.

[237SJ]

A bit more info here http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/british-man-jailed-for-committing-homosexual-acts-in-morocco-9775471.html Maybe the police "suspected the worst" because it was a foreigner with a local so probably not a couple of local buddies enjoying a day out. AOG .."Do you really believe that is the only thing they were arrested for" It`s possible. If the cops get something in their heads, they can do what they like in these countries. I know of two people (one male, one female) that said "see you later" when they passed each other in a shopping mall in Saudi Arabia. They were overheard and it was assumed that they were going to have a clandestine tryst. For that, they ended up in the slammer for 24 hours.

[Sqad]

mikey.....it DOES make them right in their opinion and THEIR country, something which we might not agree with but respect when guests in their country.

[mikey4444]

From all the info I have seen on this news item Sqad, this chap seems to be have been found guilty by bigotry, which is always worth fighting against, don't you think ?

[Sqad]

mikey......bigotry.......the Moroccan authorities do not see it that way.
It is therefore their call depending upon their interpretation of their laws and their moral code whilst a guest in their country.

[ludwig]

Gromit is right. There's no evidence he broke any law.

Anything can happen in these corrupt and backward holes. The only safe policy is to not go there.

[mikey4444]

Ludwig...agree with you there 100%. There are plenty of places to go on holiday without swelling the coffers of corrupt places like Morocco.

[sandyRoe]

Could his real crime have been to stand at a bus stop? Morocco is famously a haunt of rich homosexuals. Lionel Bart, for example. Perhaps the tourist people want to keep the place more select.

[Zeuhl]

Isn't there 'previous' regarding Morocco and homosexual tourists including some notable figures.

Kenneth Williams was a regular visitor, Joe Orton and Halliwell, Gore Vidal and Tennessee Williams etc and a regular crowd from the fashion industry.

Tangier and Casablanca have long had a pleasingly louche and bohemian aspect.

[youngmafbog]

Well I have to say Ludwig, I am not Morrocan lawyer so I have to bow to your superior knowledge of Morrocan law.

My question was more to the point of why do people do these things in other countries. Why have compromising photos on your phone? As I said in the OP this case it related to homosexual acts but I am including all the other acts British citizens seem to think they can get away with.

Mickey, I totally agree that their laws leave something to be desired, but they are THEIR laws. Yes, fight to change them but not by going over their on holiday and flouting them, that is just downright disrespectful and will just get their backs up.

[mikey4444]

Zeuhl...Joe Orton once described Morocco as camp as a row of tents !

[Ellipsis]

I have gay friends who simply would not go to an anti-gay country. Of all the places in the world that you could go to, why go to somewhere that declares your way of life illegal? That's unless you are either some kind of activist looking for trouble to raise the profile of your cause, or you get a thrill from the danger ...