Robert Alan Black.. Photo: AP |
A 70-year-old American man who came to the United Arab Emirates to speak at a conference on creative thinking was arrested last month for taking a photograph of a subject deemed off-limits by authorities, his daughter and a friend said Monday.
According to ABC news, Robert Alan Black is the latest
foreigner to be arrested for breeching rules limiting what can be photographed
in the oil-rich Gulf federation.
She said she spoke to him by phone twice briefly since
his arrest on Oct. 21.
"He took a photo where he was not supposed to.
He's very remorseful," she said her father told her from al-Wathba prison
in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
Black suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and
high cholesterol, Beasley said. She said an American consular official has
visited him and confirmed he is receiving medical treatment.
The U.S. Embassy said it was unable to comment on the
case Monday due to privacy limitations. Abu Dhabi police officials could not
immediately be reached for comment.
A number of foreigners have been prosecuted by a state
security court in recent years for taking pictures of subjects deemed
prohibited by Emirati authorities, such as palaces or embassies.
In several cases, the defendants denied knowingly
breaking the law or said they were intending to photograph a nearby structure
rather than the prohibited facility. Photographing or filming restricted areas
can be punishable by fines and jail time under Emirati law.
Black is an architect by training and is an avid
photographer of buildings, said friend Rosemary Rein. She and Black were in Abu
Dhabi to speak at the Creative Thinkers Conference.
Family and friends don't know what charges Black could
face or when his case will be heard, and he has yet to see an attorney, Rein
said.
An Emirati court last year sentenced eight people,
including an American, to up to a year in prison for their role in producing a
satirical video about youth culture in Dubai that prosecutors said defamed the
country's image. The American, Shezanne Cassim, was released within weeks of
the verdict, after having already serving nine months behind bars.
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