WASHINGTON: Comedians including Will Ferrell are lending star power to a campaign to free a 29-year-old American jailed since April in the United Arab Emirates after making a YouTube video poking fun at Dubai teenagers.
Shezzane Cassim, known as Shez by his friends, has been held for eight months after being charged with endangering the UAE’s national security under a federal cyber crimes law.
His trial is still on, with the next hearing believed to be tomorrow. A verdict has been expected since September, but the hearing has been delayed five times.
The silly 19-minute comic video, called the “Satwa Comedy School,” gently parodies Dubai teenagers from the Satwa district who styled themselves as tough “gangstas” wearing hip-hip clothes and listening to rap music, but who in reality were known for very mild behaviour.
In the mock documentary, Cassim and his friends learn the latest techniques of “Satwa G’s combat” which include the correct way to throw a shoe at a newspaper, and how in extreme cases to use a mobile phone to call for back-up.
In a video released on the website #FreeShez, Ferrell says he’s supporting the campaign to win Cassim’s release as he has been “wrongly jailed for simply making a video.”
“Basically Dubai if you want to be viewed as an international place, destination, don’t put people in jail for making silly videos,” added Adam McKay, who directed Ferrell in “Anchorman.”
Other comedians, including Patton Oswalt and former Saturday Night Live cast member Horatio Sanz, also appear in the video.
AFP
