So all those heroin smugglers and others banged up in a foreign jail should be released on that basis.
I don't disagree with you that she was stupid and has to be punished for what she did, all I am saying I feel that her boyfriend needs to take some responsibility, whereas he seems to have come out of this Scott free. As I have said before, I have been to Egypt in my working life over 300 times, and many time I went my customers would ask me, can you bring this or that as I cannot get it in Egypt. Not drugs I hasten to say, but many things are not readily available in Egypt, and maybe she just felt it was something he could not get locally, because it just was not available, but never gave it a thought that it might be illegal.
What responsibiiity - for asking someone to do something illegal? Is that a crime? I genuinely don’t know.
A bit of a funny story about Egypt prisons. I had a regular taxi driver whenever I went to Egypt. One day I wanted to go from Alexandria to Cairo, which has 2 roads, the Agricultural road and the Desert road. We took the Desert road, and there is a half way house where you can get refreshments. Also in the middle of the Desert not far from the road is a prison, and when we stopped my driver got talking to a very attractive women who had been to visit her husband in Prison. He asked me if she could join us for the trip to Cairo and I said Ok, and found out he was in there for 5 years. He ended up going round to her place every night thereafter giving her one.
Why is Egypt brutal foreign country? She visited this area of Egypt frequently and had enough local knowledge of its laws and customs, to undergo a ceremonial act in order to sleep with her boyfriend. Personally, I think that by our standards the sentence is excessive and that by our standards the prison conditions are poor. But, Egypt is not brutal to the thousands who have enjoyed its cheap hotels and resorts.
http://m.cairoscene.com/LifeStyle/Egypt-a-Nation-of-Drug-Addicts EGYPT: A NATION OF DRUG ADDICTS Written in 2014 by an Irish Writer, Conor Sheils In the past, doctors dreamt of a day when there was a pill for every ill, but now Egypt is facing a deadly addiction crisis as thousands get high on a cocktail of deadly pharmacutical drugs. Millions of wealthy and seemingly well-rounded Egyptians are becoming trapped in a web of adiction, misery and crime thanks to lax prescription laws and the social acceptance surrounding pharmacutical pills such as Tramadol, Xxanax and Rivotril. Experts believe that the problem has spiralled since the revolution. Heroin is often blamed for many of society's ills, however, many addicts prefer to rely on highly addictive mind-bending legal drugs instead. A CairoScene probe found the deadly drugs including Xanax are on sale at seemingly reputable pharmacies in Cairo for the small sum of 8 LE, as written on the box and without a prescription. Meanwhile, deadly Tramadol is available on the streets for as little as two pounds per pill. The results are clear; Egypt has a drug problem and experts believe that the problem is is now out of control. Dr. Khaled Helmy, of the Al Nohza Hospital in Alexandria, believes that the country is heading for drug-fuelled disaster. "The problem has gotten far worse in recent years and we are facing an epidemic if more isn't done to stop the spread of this cancer." And Dr. Helmy claims that the problem is prevalent across the class divide, as he paints a bleak picture of Egypt's pill-popping generation. "The main addictions we see are Heroin, Tramadol and benzodiazapines. Tramadol, in particular, has become an epidemic." "People first start taking Tramadol because their friends they see their friends taking it but over time the problem gets worse and soon they are willing to steal or worse in order to get their fix. One of the main problems we see is the cost and availability of these drugs. They can be bought for as little as two or three pounds per tablet. We see patients taking up to 30 tablets per day," he adds. However, even more shocking is the fact that Dr. Helmy claims that some upper class addicts pick up the habit from their parents. "We see some upper middle class users who've picked up the habit because they see their parents using. These people are wealthy and outwardly successful - but behind closed doors it is a very different story." "When people come to us they really are desperate for help. In some cases they have been sent by a family member but in others it is because they have had trouble with the law or simply just hit rock bottom," says the drug rehabilitation expert. Dr. Helmy heads up three clinics in Alexandria which hold a total of 70 inpatients, all willing to pay up to 20,000 LE to get clean. Speaking about the future, Dr. Helmy is frank: "There are two things which need to change in this country if we are to tackle the scourge of drug addiction. Firstly we need to raise awareness among people. Secondly we need to be given the tools to effectively fight the problem." Until then Egypt is sitting on a ticking addiction time bomb waiting to explode.
I suspect most British holidaymakers know very little about Egypt's laws and customs, they mainly just drink lager and eat whatever looks most like a kebab.
Hardly the same thing, would you still think it right for her to get banged up for years if it was Lemsip she was smuggling?
I totally agree, but she did visit frequently and to the same area, I accept that she did not really think this through, but she did take them into the country and she was going to give them to someone else.
As there are reports saying that the sentence is politically motivated and we have a no politics rule, its hard to state the real reason behind the sentencing. If she had been caught in 2014, she may well have been deported straight after the hearing. PS I am happy to have this post deleted if it breaks the rules.
Is Lemsip illegal in Egypt? Would someone claiming they didn't know guns were illegal in this country be treated leniently? Or that as sex was legal in their country with under 16s they just assumed it was the case here? Or expect to get served in a bar at 16 because they can in their country? She could of course wondered why her "husband" wanted her to bring painkillers in when he could get them in Egypt himself. And why take Tramadol?They are available, like here, under prescription. It is having them without a prescription, especially in large quantities which is the problem. She could have taken any number of over the counter painkillers. Why choose one she had to obtain illegally here in the first place? Do you think it was just a comcedence it was the one that is Egypt's most popular recreational drug? The reason it is treated the way it is can be found in The Omega Man's earlier post.
