[meteorite-list] Oman prison saga

From: Galactic Stone and Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:00:54 -0400
Message-ID: <AANLkTinVetTSmvYPnTFq_=wGkAwH4=DcOdam5rkYP+2P_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Mike, Robert and List,

I concur with what some of the others said - I don't recall anyone
being happy you guys were sitting in an Omani prison. Of course, when
the news got around, people did talk about it, and it did result in
the expected debates about hunting, legalities, and the like.
Eventually, everyone just shut up about it in public because we didn't
want to add to your problem.

Now that both of you are back home and safe, everything can return to
normal - or what passes for normal in the meteorite world.

I don't think anyone would wish a foreign prison on their worst enemy,
and if there are people out there who were happy to see you guys rot
in a cell, then I would not want to have anything to do with such
people.

Now, get some rest, try to unwind, and get out there and find the
first American lunar. :)

Best regards and happy huntings,

MikeG

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Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites

Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
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On 3/14/11, cdtucson at cox.net <cdtucson at cox.net> wrote:
> Mike and Robert,
> Welcome back.
> I agree with Ruben in that nobody I spoke with about you guys wanted to see
> you imprisoned.
> In fact between you and the shootings of Gabby and company the mood at the
> Tucson Show was that of civility.
> for the past twenty years I have never missed the show but, this year was a
> special one. The sadness felt for you guys was evident every day of the
> show.
> People shared good stories about you two and everyone wished for your safe
> speedy return.
> I know I longed to hear what you had to say in your personal phone calls to
> Jim Strope.
> This gave us all hope.
> Hopefully the civility inspired by the two of you along with Gabby and the
> rest will last.
> I commented on this before that this years Tucson was the friendliest ever.
> Welcome back guys. I think we are all better people from your suffering.
> 40 pound weight loss. Man , you might be able to sell that diet plan? Ha ha
> Carl
>
> --
> Carl or Debbie Esparza
> Meteoritemax
>
>
> ---- Michael Farmer <mike at meteoriteguy.com> wrote:
>> 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 03:00:54 PM PDT