[meteorite-list] Oman prison saga

From: Mark Grossman <markig_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:19:39 -0400
Message-ID: <206420ADEFB04C97A9A85D9CFB66EDE5_at_QED>

Same here.

What a horrible story but thank God a happy ending.

Mike, you probably don't remember me, but you sold me my first meteorite - a
Gibeon.

Glad everything turned out OK and that you're around to enjoy life and
introduce other people to collecting meteorites.

Mark

Mark Grossman
Meteorite Manuscripts

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Deckert" <edeckert at triad.rr.com>
To: "Michael Farmer" <mike at meteoriteguy.com>;
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 12:16 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Oman prison saga


> Michael,
>
> First of all, welcome home. After reading your horror story, all that I
> can say is that it was a miracle for both of you to have survived this
> ordeal. Granted, you had military training to fall-back on, but still, you
> are most fortunate to have literally survived "life in hell" to relate
> your story. While I have never met either of you, I am personally relieved
> that you and Robert made it back home.
>
> Best Regards, and again, welcome home,
>
> Ed Deckert
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Farmer" <mike at meteoriteguy.com>
> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2011 11:36 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Oman prison saga
>
>
>> 90% of the meteorite list is interested in the Oman meteorite saga that
>> Robert Ward and Michael Farmer went through from our arrest in early
>> January until our release ordered on March 7th 2011.
>>
>> This is my story, Robert can tell his, as it is a little different as we
>> were separated, interrogated, and housed apart for more than half of the
>> event.
>>
>> On December 31st we headed for Oman, my 20th meteorite hunting expedition
>> there. I have studied the law there since the arrest of the Russian and
>> American hunters back in 2005. There is no law against meteorite hunting
>> in Oman, those who asked why we keep doing it, that is why. It is legal.
>> After months of meeting with lawyers, looking at Oman law, I think we
>> know what we are talking about.
>>
>> We had a very successful trip, I found 35 meteorites, 3 pieces of the
>> Dhofar 1180 Lunar, more than 100 grams, and some other nice things. On
>> the last day we headed out of the desert and towards Dubai. At 1 PM on 13
>> January we arrived at a police roadblock in Adam, nothing out of the
>> norm, until they rushed my car with M16's and they had heavy belt-fed
>> guns on their trucks. They forced us out of our cars and ripped them
>> apart of course, finding the meteorites immediately. We were taken to the
>> Adam police station and interrogated for 10 hours. The Wali (governor) of
>> the area arrived and was very upset at our confinement, he kept
>> apologizing to us and saying he did not understand why we were being
>> arrested and kept calling Muscat to try and get us released, he was angry
>> at tourists being detained in his district. He then informed that orders
>> from much higher in the government came in that we were to be taken to
>> Muscat and it was out of his hands. The
>> roadblock was for us, they had intel that we were coming. I have intel on
>> who did it......
>>
>> We were driven to Muscat in shackles, arriving at midnight, taken to an
>> interrogation center in Qurum. Stripped, put into separate rooms, and
>> never saw each other again for the next 25 days except when the embassy
>> came, our lawyers came, or we were taken to the hospital a couple of
>> times.
>> Qurum Criminal Investigation Division is little more than a torture
>> chamber, we heard many times people being beaten, and dragged around.
>> I was interrogated in a conference room after more than 72 hours without
>> sleep. We were kept in small rooms, 9 x 9 x 12 ft, with small pad on the
>> floor and two blankets, horribly filthy, crawling with roaches, and
>> things on the floors and walls which I decline to try to describe. There
>> were 4 rooms, Robert and I in two, and other people in the others, we
>> could hear them crying or screaming sometimes.
>> I tried to speak to Robert a couple of times just to see if he was there,
>> and he would yell he was, then the police would come and threaten me not
>> to speak again, this went on for 25 days and nights, 24 hours a day in
>> that room, cold, a small light on 24/7 you never knew the time of day
>> except when food would come.
>> It was a nightmare that never seemed to end. I was close to losing it,
>> never did, but my military training kicked in and helped with that.
>>
>> It was more than 48 hours since our arrest that I was interrogated,
>> forced to sign a statement of guilt, then driven to a prosecutor's office
>> at midnight on the 15th of Jan. No phone calls in that time, no chance to
>> see lawyer or embassy despite endless pleas. I was charged with various
>> crimes again with no chance to see lawyer beforehand. I begged the
>> prosecutor for a call and he refused, then thankfully after he sent me
>> out into a waiting room, another person handed me a cell phone quietly so
>> I called my wife and in 20 seconds told her I was in jail in Muscat, and
>> to call for help to the embassy,.
>> It took a week for the embassy to find us. Oman violated many laws, they
>> are required to provide lawyer before charges are filed, and contact
>> embassy within 24 hours, neither done.
>>
>> After that, the endless days passed in hell, the toilet a hole in the
>> ground and I will leave the rest to your imagination.
>> We went to trial on 6 Feb, a 15 minute joke in Arabic with one question
>> asked by the judge, who then sentenced us to 6 months in prison and a
>> $250 fine for illegal mining operations.
>> We were sent the next day to the Sumail central prison.
>>
>> Once we arrived at the prison, Robert and I were placed together in a
>> room, for the first time we could talk at will, see the sky and see other
>> people. We were in a brand new American made ultra-max type prison. It
>> was quite nice if you can call prison nice. Clean, new, but full. Usually
>> around 200 people in our cell block. Taliban types, drug smugglers from
>> Iran and Pakistan, drunks from India, car thieves from Oman etc.
>> We were the only two westerners in a prison of thousands, so they worked
>> hard to keep up safe, the other prisoners were told they would suffer
>> greatly if they laid a finger on us.
>>
>> After two weeks there, the prison changed, when the political situation
>> in Oman turned ugly, rioting, fires, deaths etc all happened in Oman,
>> even though the news was blacked out. Special forces were brought in as
>> some of the other cell blocks rioted and all hell broke loose. We were
>> then scared for our lives. We were also nearly starved to death. I lost
>> nearly 40 lbs just by laying in bed, the food was less than my cat eats
>> in a day. Horrible crap, watery Dal from India, some dry rice, Arabic
>> flatbread, goop of all sorts, some form of meat that would be about the
>> size of your thumb for lunch. A prisoner carved me a spoon out of a
>> toilet cleaner chemical container, I have it here.
>>
>> We saw people beaten, dragged away in shackles never to be seen again by
>> us, sick people refused medicine, diabetics refused shots and very sick.
>> We were treated well, which was sad that as Americans we were immediately
>> taken to the doctor when we were sick, others dragged back to bed in
>> horrible pain, no need for a doctor for them..............
>>
>> Then came last week, our appeal in Nizwa. A different type of trial with
>> 3 judges, and we were actually allowed to speak. I pled not guilty to all
>> charges, and the judges asked why. I was accused of illegal mining, I
>> asked what mining equipment I had been captured with, a phone, a sat
>> phone, a camera, a GPS, Ipad and Ipod. I told the court none of these
>> things can mine, nor find meteorites, the judges agreed. The prosecutor
>> fumed.
>> We were also charged with violating Cultural Heritage laws, taking
>> artifacts of more than 60 years old. I told the court that a meteorite is
>> not an artifact, and when asked how old it was, I said it was unknown.
>> The prosecutor said it was old, I asked what evidence he had to prove
>> that, again the judges conferred and nodded their agreement that no
>> evidence was provided to prove age one way or another than since it is
>> not man made, that could not even be guessed.
>>
>> Robert also spoke at length, then our lawyer fought very hard back and
>> forth with the prosecutor and judges for an hour or so over every aspect
>> of Omani law, then the judges left the room, came back 5 minutes later,
>> looked at Robert and I and said in Arabic "Hallas" which means "finished"
>> and then in perfect English, "You are released from prison". They smiled
>> at us on their way out of the courtroom.
>>
>> Robert and I looked at each other in shock, then the policeman said we
>> were free to go. We hugged then were taken back to the prison as we had
>> to sign out and get our things. The last night in prison was a real party
>> with all the friends we made there.
>>
>> The next day we were taken back to Muscat as the Embassy and my wife made
>> travel arrangements for us to go home. A very happy day for us. We flew
>> out at midnight on the 8th of March.
>>
>>
>> There is no law against meteorite hunting in Oman. They might not like
>> it, but Cultural Heritage does not apply. There are specific items
>> listed, not meteorites. The mining law does not apply, 7 articles are
>> very specific about mining, stones on the surface do not apply.
>>
>> The word meteorite does not exist in their laws, many other stones are
>> specifically named as forbidden from removal, meteorites are not among
>> them.
>>
>> We committed no crime, that being said, it doesn't change the fact that
>> we spent two months in hell.
>> We were deported and can not return to Oman.
>> I have been to Oman enough times anyway, I have nearly a thousand
>> meteorites from there, all mine legally.
>> There is a 3 month statute of limitations on any theft crime, the
>> prosecutor told us that any stone taken more than 3 months before is ours
>> to keep as any claim by Oman expires 3 months after it was found.
>>
>> All meteorites from Oman are legal, regardless of what Beda Hoffmann and
>> the Omani professor says, the law is clear. They don't like it, well then
>> I say change the law.
>>
>> But that does not change the fact that they will arrest you, deprive you
>> of even your rights guaranteed under Omani law, and make you suffer
>> greatly if you are caught there. Justice in Oman is a joke.
>>
>> It was worth the time though, we have had adventures there that money
>> can't buy. Those of you who have never taken a risk can not understand
>> that those of us who gather these stones that fill museums and
>> collections around the world, do so at risk to life and limb. Those who
>> are unwilling to risk usually gain little.
>>
>> Thanks for all the support from those who tried to help me and my wife
>> during a very frightening and difficult time, and to those who were happy
>> at our suffering, we made it through as men, I am stronger, wiser, and a
>> happier person now. When your time of need comes, may the favor be
>> repaid, I am a strong believer in Karma.
>> Michael Farmer
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Received on Mon 14 Mar 2011 12:19:39 AM PDT