John Downs American with Life in Qatar Prison

John Rambo is going anywhere

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@csymllr I don't know about the other posters but in my post I specifically noted that if he did in the USA what he tried to do in Qatar, it would amount to treason. Thus despite the fact that he technically isn't committing treason, he can't claim he is unaware of the severity of his offense, as in this case it could amount to attempted espionage.

As for the whole democracy thing with Guantanamo bay, well the fact is the USA shoves its morals and principles of freedom and what constitutes a democracy down the throats of all its enemy dictatorships, but on the other hand arbitrarily detains people in guantanamo and outsources torture to the dictatorships that are its allies such as Egypt for example. When the UK attempted to follow suit and arbitrarily detains foreign nationals suspected of terrorist links, the judiciary stepped in and prevented them from doing this, arguing that if we can't use these laws on UK citizens then we can't do it to foreigners either, there is no discrimination between individuals in a true democracy. Yet the USA conveniently circumvents these principles of democracy by way of their executive using loopholes to get what they want. There are laws in the USA that allows the judiciary to prosecute Americans for child sex tourism that they had committed in foreign jurisdictions, so I don't see why measures somewhat identical can't be used to keep checks on the executive to ensure they act within the US law.

What he attempted to sell wasn't commercial in nature, he wanted to sell information to a foreign state, not a local company, and it was information that could have led to political issues between the two countries. The historical tension between Bahrain and Qatar , Kuwait and Iraq, all of these land issues did involve identical cases of spies trying to access information that this man tried to sell to Iran, and the Iraqis claimed one reason for their invasion was because of Kuwaiti espionage that allowed them to effectively use slant drilling to access Iraqi oil. If he was successful, there would have been potential political ramifications. Unlike if he was for example working at Vodafone and tried to sell information to Qtel.

I can definitely see everyone's point of view in the sense that the guy pulled a stupid stunt, but a lot of you seem to be arguing that this guy was committing treason. From what I remember being taught, treason is a war crime, a crime that is a betrayl of the country they have a sworn allegiance to. I dont see any such relationship with the crime this John Downs was convicted of.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, no prisoner of Guantanamo Bay is serving time for a commerce related crime. I have never heard of anyone serving a life sentence, or be put to death, for committing a crime that would only result in financial loss. That and what does democracy have to do with the matter? I don't think there has ever been a National vote on the closure of Guantanamo where the majority of Americans decided that action be taken to eliminate the prison. Yes, the prison is hypocritical, but I don't see how it falls into the category of undemocratic.

With that said though, this guy and his family dont have any legitimate claim to have him moved to the States to serve his sentence, nor do they have a claim to have his crimes subjected to any law other then Qatari law. If he wanted to punish the country, he should have taken his experience and his education out of here. If Qatar is so dependant on gas that his crime is designated as treason, then the one economy's dependance would lead to the countries eventual failure without his contribution.

Absolutely no reason why he should be extradited to the US. Espionage committed against Qatar should be punished inside Qatar. I feel pity for his family, but he should have thought of his family before doing such a stupid thing.

Any country would keep him in prison for life , he deserves it , and he knew what the consiquences where if he got caught . He put his family through this no one did . If he loved his family, he wouldnt have done what he did in the first place.

He lived here for 10 years and there's no way he was unaware of what the consequences of his actions would be. He behaved selfishly and demonstrated just how much he "cared" for his family by his actions.

literal people are scary, man, literal people scare me

out there trying to rid the world of its poetry while getting it wrong fundamentally down at the church of "look,it sez right here, see!" Ani Difranco

Every family suffers if any of their relatives are arrested for any crime.

IF he had thought about his own family's welfare, it should have deterred from doing it. But sadly money is an over riding factor.

He deserves it, if his family suffers that is not a reason to commute his crime. He should have been shot dead.

;poor family is suffering from slefishness of a father and husband and brother...

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I don't believe in taking right decisions;

I take decisions and make them right.

Treason is a CAPITAL offense in a lot of US jurisdictions, meaning he could be liable for execution for what he did if it was committed in the USA, I doubt he was unaware of the severity of the punishment in his own homeland, and have even doubt that he did not realize how serious what he was doing is.

As for his family, well tough, yes they are suffering but he chose to commit the crime, and you don't just ship inmates to their homeland to serve time for crimes they committed abroad.

Well he lived here for many years - chose NOT to learn Arabic and committed a serious crime, that could be considered treason, in a country where he does not speak the language.

Also he would have been aware of the legal system.

He made his choices - these are the consequences.

Come on, its not like we have most open or fair system in the world. How can the poor guy defend himself if he has no access to the evidence or a lawyer that speaks his language. I agree what he did was not bright, but I think his family has a valid concern about how he was tried.

lol roberto you are right

Lol...the prisoners at Gitmo haven't been afforded a trial nor have they been accused of anything specific...they are being held on an arbitrary basis indefinitely. That's so-called democracy at work. Fair. I think not.

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ignorance is not an excuse

if they so want to be close to him, they should consider shifting here permanently...

If jails worldwide had to move their inmates around so they could be closer to home, thats all they would have time for

I found one bit slightly exaggerated... "During the first, she would take a weekly ride from Doha – Qatar’s capital – to the prison, which is about an hour’s drive across the scorching desert from the city."

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You are a fool if you do think what he did was serious. The north field is the life blood the country and is shared with Iran. The geological data could be used by Iran to extract gas and therefore deplete this field tobthe benefit of the Iranians and the detriment of the qataris. Wealth your jobs depend on.

He knew what he was doing and would have helped theft in the billions of dollars scale. Hence his hard punishment.

He commuted the crime against Qatar. He should serve his time in Qatar.

Let's face it if he was Indian no one would care

Well, look, he came here, he knew the rules and the situation. He comitted a crime. He got caught and sentenced. Sure, I feel sorry for his family. But HE KNEW what would happen if he was caught.

I think it is perfectly right for Qatar to have him in a prison here.

What comes around, goes around....

Yes indeed, the family is suffering and out of love they campaign for him.

I don't agree that he should be moved to serve his time elsewhere. He committed the crime in Qatar and he belongs in a Qatari jail.

He says the family was happy in Qatar and thriving...so selfish of him to singularly make the decision to change all of their lives for the worse.

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As the article says the family is not trying to protest his innocence but question the fairness of his trial and his safety. And many of you seem to have sympathy for the family and therefore should be hopeful for them that their brother and father may be able to serve his time out in America even if you have negative feelings towards Mr. Downs. His children, I feel sure, are suffering due to his foolish decision and the fact that he will be imprisoned for the rest of his life. The family should not have additional suffering by rarely ever being able to see him. Kudos to his sister and children for doing everything they can do for him - just what family should do!

Am with diamond on this one.

What comes around, goes around....

He's not in prison for stupidity. He's in prison for industrial espionage.

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And if he wants to serve his time out in a US prison, he should have lived in the States and committed industrial espionage against his own country.

No sympathy here.

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I just can't agree with life in prison for stupidity. Especially since no one was hurt.

Mandi

He knew what he was doing. He admitted his guilt. he had lived in the country for at least ten years prior to this. That should have given him enought ime to find out the laws of the land.

If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime.

Stupid man...his poor family.

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He would be jailed for life in most countries in the world for this. Not sure how blaming Qatar helps

Qatar is a democratic country? Really? I must have missed that.

What comes around, goes around....

....hardly!!!! One only has to read the full content of the www.johnwdowns.com website to understand that Mr. Downs did something very silly out of anger and disappointment with the way he was being treated by Qatar Petroleum. It is so laughable to believe that, even if he had been successful, the end result could have done harm to any person or to the country of Qatar. No way!! He was offering to Iran "useless information" and for that he was given a life sentence?? It is a real disappointment for a justice system within a so called "Democratic Country" to act without compassion and such disregard for anyone's life!! In my opinion, Mr. Downs has already served more than what his indiscretion warranted!!! We're all less as human beings when we accept such a lack of fairness!

The guy was am idiot but that is no defence in the face of the law. Trying to sell state secrets to the iranains. He was greedy and now has to pay for his actions

What a selfish man putting his family through all this.

Can't say I have too much sympathy for the man as he committed a very serious crime and he knew what he was doing. However life does sound harsh. Maybe 10 to 15 years would have been about right

very nice