Cassim says his friends are out of UAE prison following satirical video fracas

Woodbury native Shezanne Cassim has spent this week trying to get back to more normal life after he spent the past nine months in a United Arab Emirates jail cell.

His story made international news after he was arrested in April after posting a video to YouTube that satirizes the youth culture of Dubai, where he was living.

He and two friends were accused of endangering national security and were transferred to a maximum security prison in Abu Dhabi.

After pressure from lawmakers in the U.S., and a media campaign that attracted stars like comedian Will Ferrell, Cassim was released. He returned to Minnesota last week, and has learned that his friends have also been released. He spoke with MPR's Cathy Wurzer. Here's a transcript of their conversation:

Cathy Wurzer: Describe what you and your friends were trying to say with that video.

Shezanne Cassim: I grew up in Dubai, and I'm not a stranger to the place. I'm quite familiar with what you can and can't do there. And the thing about Dubai is that there are so many nationalities living there. So it's a very charming and nice place to live. And you get so many funny, what I would call, "only in Dubai" inside jokes that happen there.

So my thinking was like, why are we importing everything into Dubai, including our entertainment? Why don't we actually try and promote some of our own entertainment locally? So we created this video, which is an inside joke --- only people in Dubai would understand, to kind of celebrate the culture of the city. And we didn't think we were doing anything wrong. Actually, the feedback that we got was overwhelmingly positive when we actually released the video.

Wurzer: How were you then arrested? What did they tell you at that moment?

Cassim: Well, see, the video was up for about six months before we were arrested. And at that point, we only had around 12,000 views, which was our audience. We weren't intending our audience to be much bigger than that. But over a couple of days, suddenly there was this spike --- it was a 30,000 view spike, and I think somebody must've taken notice of our video, and the next thing I know, I received a phone call from the police station telling me to come in for what they said was a small problem.

Wurzer: And you thought?

Cassim: Actually what happened was, one of the other friends I did the video with had gone into the station earlier in the day, and he had disappeared from contact. So I figured it had to be about the video, because it couldn't have been anything else. So I went in, and I just expected them to say, 'Hey you guys, could you please take the video down?' And that's not what happened.

Wurzer: I know you described the judicial process as a kangaroo court. Did that whole process surprise you about Dubai?

Cassim: Well, the legal system there is different. I can't make any real comment on that right now, but what I can tell you is that when I actually went in to actually speak with the police, they didn't really tell me what I had done wrong. And when they started questioning me, it wasn't so much about, 'Why did you do the video?' It was more along the lines of, 'Who paid you to do this video? Who is telling you to do this video and say these things?' So there was this, almost like an accusation that I was part of some foreign anti-government organization.

Wurzer: Or conspiracy it sounds like.

Cassim: Exactly. And so they questioned me for about an hour. Most of the time I spent just waiting. Eventually, they took my statements, and I had to sign in Arabic. So I really didn't know what I was signing. And the whole time I was expecting them to just release me after they just do their report, take down the video, 'OK, guys, go home.'

But what happened was, even after all the statements were taken, they gave me a polygraph test, to make sure that I wasn't some sort of foreign agent. And when I passed that, I said, 'OK, then, now you guys are going to release me.' But no, that's when they cuffed me and put me in a van and sent me over to the jail.

Wurzer: I can't imagine how afraid you were at that time.

Cassim: Even at that point, I was still so shocked, that I just thought that in a couple of days I'll just get out and this'll be over. Again, because they didn't tell us anything of what to expect.

Wurzer: I know the prison you were in has been described as maximum security. Was it pretty tough in there?

Cassim: Yeah, well, actually I was held in two facilities. So, when I was first arrested, I was taken to a city jail, which is a holding center for all types of criminals, from drunk drivers to murderers. So that particular jail was just very dirty, there was a communal bathroom for over 130 people. There were feces caked into the toilet, there were just all kinds of insects and creatures, and it was just not very hygienic. So, in a way, we were kind of relieved to be transferred to the Abu Dhabi prison two months later.

But when we got to Abu Dhabi, we found out that, although it was a bit cleaner, there were just no facilities at all. There's no television, we had very limited access to phone, limited access to visits. Yes, it was a bit cleaner, but really it was more psychological torture at that prison. Because you just had to sit in a cage. And initially when we came in, there wasn't even any functioning AC, air conditioning. And that was during the peak summer months. So, at nights it used to reach around 32 degrees Celsius. I'm not sure what that is in Fahrenheit, but it was pretty tough to handle. (90 degrees Fahrenheit)

Wurzer: Were you physically abused?

Cassim: I was not physically abused.

Wurzer: Were you separated from your friends?

Cassim: No, we were together, pretty much the whole time.

Wurzer: What do you know at this point about the status of your friends who made the video with you? Are they still in prison?

Cassim: All I know is they are out of prison.

Wurzer: But you've not talked to them?

Cassim: Not really, no.

Wurzer: Do you think the government of the UAE has succeeded in making other people think twice before poking fun at the culture there, because of your situation?

Cassim: I don't know about that, because this is not the first video of its kind. There have been similar videos to this, especially in that the joke itself is not entirely original. So I really don't know what their position on this is.

Wurzer: Shezanne, do you ever plan on going back?

Cassim: Technically, I cannot go back because I have been banned from there. But I am open, you know, at some point in the future, to maybe even working with the government to constructively, kind of improve the situation there.

Wurzer: As you know, a lot of people tried to drum up support for you over here, people like Will Ferrell. Have you been contacted by some of the people --- comedians, filmmakers, politicians --- since you've been home?

Cassim: I have met with some politicians. I have not had a chance yet to thank Will Ferrell and the guys at Funny or Die. But I shall be doing that stuff shortly.

Wurzer: It's gotta be nice to be back home.

Cassim: Definitely, definitely.

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Transcript by MPR News reporter Liala Helal