Of Lawsuits and Trade Deals, Cultural Gaps, No Brokeback Alps………..
“Man beaten by sheikh sues Swiss…..… But in October, his lawyers successfully argued at the Swiss Federal Tribunal that under Swiss law the metal-buckled belt their client used to whip Mr Orsi did not qualify and so the conviction was overturned. At the time of the incident it was reported that Sheikh Falah's lawyers had said it happened because their client was offended by Mr Orsi's suggestion that the champagne was a sexual advance. Mr Orsi, a US citizen, argues that the Federal Tribunal's verdict breached his human rights, guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights, which Switzerland has ratified. He says that he was the victim of global politics, because neither the US or Swiss governments wanted to annoy the United Arab Emirates. "They are demonstrating their apparent willingness to ignore my human rights as an American in order to protect the newly proposed US-UAE 123 nuclear technology agreement that is currently before the US Congress," Mr Orsi told the BBC……….”
The suspicion of an “advance” may have been a cultural misunderstanding. Men do hold hands, hug, kiss on the cheek, and buy each other drinks in the Middle East. This can be completely non-sexual, and mostly it is. Of course I was not there, so I can’t attest to any lascivious looks or signals, or their absence. Don’t they have security cameras in these lounges in the quasi-police state of Switzerland?
As for the beating…………
Cheers
mhg
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