Originally Posted by mecabq

I have seen several stories liike this, e.g.,the famous one about the British couple in Dubai who were supposedly jailed just for kissing on the beach, which conveniently left out the rest of the story.

I am always skeptical, and believe that there is more to the story here, too. You wouldn't know it from Le Monde, a news source probably biased to the French alleged victim -- they apparently didn't seek any other side of the story, and felt compelled to add some gratuitous commentary about Qatari society, which they apparently also didn't fact check. I don't believe for one second that one would be thrown in jail for writing an expletive on his Facebook page. And I have lived in Qatar, and dealt with the legal system, for three years.

Plus, a minor factual qualm: Qatar Airways does not sell tickets from Dubai to Paris, so they couldn't have cancelled his ticket to Paris. Presumably he was on QR from CEB-DOH-DXB, connecting on another airline to Paris. But this just seems like sloppy journalism.

I hate to sound like a Qatar apologist, but, even in Qatar, one can count on a small amount of basic common sense, which we should apply to the "numerous questions [that] abound."