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Australian deported from Abu Dhabi after 'writing bad words' on Facebook Australian deported from Abu Dhabi after 'writing bad words' on Facebook
(about 7 hours later)
An Australian woman jailed in Abu Dhabi for “writing bad words on social media” has been deported from the United Arab Emirates. An Australian woman deported from the United Arab Emirates after being jailed in Abu Dhabi for “writing bad words on social media” says her punishment was extreme.
Jodi Magi, 39, was sentenced for a cyber crimes offence after reportedly posting a photo on Facebook of a car parked across two disabled spots outside her Abu Dhabi apartment.Jodi Magi, 39, was sentenced for a cyber crimes offence after reportedly posting a photo on Facebook of a car parked across two disabled spots outside her Abu Dhabi apartment.
Before being deported on Tuesday, Magi told the ABC that during her two days in jail she was shackled at the ankles, strip-searched and made to sleep on a concrete floor. Shortly after being deported on Tuesday, the 39-year-old West Australian said that during her two days in jail she was shackled at the ankles, strip-searched and made to sleep on a concrete floor with no access to toilet paper or eating utensils.
“Obviously, I think a fine and deportation with [an] ... incarceration period was an extreme reaction to a jpg [image] of a car posted to a closed Facebook page, when I did not swear or mention a single name and blocked the registration plate,” Magi said in a Facebook post.
“If you think what happened to me was insane, spend a couple of days in an Abu Dhabi jail. I have nothing to complain about compared to the vast majority of women I met.”
She was “pretty traumatised” would be “forever heartbroken” by stories of the other women she met while in jail.
Magi appeared in an Abu Dhabi court on 12 July and was taken into custody before being placed on a flight to Bangkok.
The trouble began in February, when she posted on her Facebook page a photo of a car illegally parked across two places reserved for disabled drivers. The picture was accompanied by “insulting, degrading remarks”, said a judicial source.
After a complaint from the vehicle’s owner, a European, Magi admitted having posted the photo but not the incriminating text, the source said.
In April Magi was sentenced in absentia to pay a fine of $3,600 and deportation.
She appeared in court in May with a lawyer and interpreter to appeal against the verdict but her sentence was confirmed in June.
Magi said she will take some time to “decompress” in Laos.