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Scorpions - Drummer Arrested For Insulting Islam In Dubai


According to reports from The National, the drummer James Kottak of the German band Scorpions could spend a month in jail after he was convicted on Tuesday morning of insulting Islam, flashing his middle finger at Muslim passengers at an airport and consuming alcohol. Kottak admits he had been drinking but denies the insults. The band already released a statement about the matter as well.

American James Kottak, 51, said he had drunk five glasses of wine on a flight from Moscow to Dubai. He was to transit to Bahrain on a Gulf Air flight to perform at the country's Formula One grand Prix on April 5th when the incident happened at about 11pm on April 3rd. The rocker was with a friend when he said he took a wrong turn and entered the transit hall. "We wanted to wait for the rest of our friends but, mistakenly, ended up at the transit hall," Kottak told police. There he was arrested for being drunk and after that he was reportedly seen getting angry and swearing.

At the sight of Pakistani and Muslim passengers, witnesses said Kottak started swearing and talking about "non-educated Muslims" before he flashed his middle finger at passengers. Police said he also lowered his trousers and showed people his behind.

An officer said he heard the drummer saying "what is this disgusting smell" before he insulted Islam. "I didn't see anything else but I heard him. I then informed my supervisor, who came and took the defendant away." Police said in records that when he lowered his trousers he was asking people to touch his behind.

"I don't remember saying these words and I did not flash my middle finger," Kottak said to prosecutors. When asked about taking down his trousers, he said "this is not true ? I just lifted my shirt up to show the tattoo on my back" as a "spontaneous act".

"There is no way that I would say such a phrase about Muslims, whether I was drunk or not," he told police. "I confess to drinking alcohol but I refuse the other two charges, I did not do them."

At Dubai Court of Misdemeanours on Tuesday, his lawyer said that his client was innocent and that the witnesses must be misunderstood. "Their testimonies are contradictory, your honour," said Hamid Al Khazraji.

However, the drummer from Scorpions was sentenced to one month in jail and he was also fined 2,000 dirhams (approximately $545) for drinking alcohol without a licence. He has been in custody since April 3rd and will be released as soon as the time spent in detention will be deducted from his sentence.



Courtesy of the band's website


Meanwhile, Scorpions have also released a statement about this situation: "Dear fans, when James Kottak arrived in Dubai at 3 April, he ran into problems at immigration and got busted. Whatever happened is totally out of our control and we don't know any details about it at this point. For the concerts in Germany, Johan Franzon, a Swedish drummer, will take James seat. Please understand, we keep you posted, Scorpions."

Source: thenational.ae
Band profile: Scorpions
Posted: 30.04.2014 by Bad English


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Comments: 42   Visited by: 252 users
02.05.2014 - 02:31
King Bonzo

Written by Guest on 02.05.2014 at 02:19


It isn't rocket science. Being muslim and being uneducated are not universally mutually inclusive.
To justify your hate using incorrect statements is, by anyone's account, unethical. That's the whole point. I'm sure there're harder targets for witty remarks, IF you were trying to act smart. If you were just asking, then the answer to your inquiry was a common-sense laden "no, it's not true at all."


I didn't say it was true and nor did I ask if the "uneducated muslims" comment was true. What I asked, if you re-read it, was: could be considered an insult IF it was true.

What you're doing is attaching a ton of perceived context to my words. You're seeing what I wrote, filtering it through your own subconscious, and interpreting it as something that offends you. All you're doing is looking for something to be offended by in my words, and when you find nothing valid, you presuming some double meaning on my part.

Effectively you WANT to be offended so you can get all snarky and attempt a witty retort to a comment that wouldn't have caused offence to anyone with enough confidence and maturity to read it objectively.

Using words like "hate", "unethical" and "witty" shows you are offended by my question. As all offence is subjective this means it is your own doing. If you're offended by my question, which you definitely seem to be, you've no one to blame but yourself.
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02.05.2014 - 02:38
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by King Bonzo on 02.05.2014 at 02:31

Written by Guest on 02.05.2014 at 02:19


It isn't rocket science. Being muslim and being uneducated are not universally mutually inclusive.
To justify your hate using incorrect statements is, by anyone's account, unethical. That's the whole point. I'm sure there're harder targets for witty remarks, IF you were trying to act smart. If you were just asking, then the answer to your inquiry was a common-sense laden "no, it's not true at all."


I didn't say it was true and nor did I ask if the "uneducated muslims" comment was true. What I asked, if you re-read it, was: could be considered an insult IF it was true.

What you're doing is attaching a ton of perceived context to my words. You're seeing what I wrote, filtering it through your own subconscious, and interpreting it as something that offends you. All you're doing is looking for something to be offended by in my words, and when you find nothing valid, you presuming some double meaning on my part.

Effectively you WANT to be offended so you can get all snarky and attempt a witty retort to a comment that wouldn't have caused offence to anyone with enough confidence and maturity to read it objectively.

Using words like "hate", "unethical" and "witty" shows you are offended by my question. As all offence is subjective this means it is your own doing. If you're offended by my question, which you definitely seem to be, you've no one to blame but yourself.



The way you said it implied that the above statement was an oxymoron. I'll take your word on it that it wasn't malicious, and there weren't any underlying sub-texts involved, in which case I accept that as my own failure to comprehend and apologize for the misunderstanding.
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02.05.2014 - 02:41
King Bonzo

Written by Guest on 02.05.2014 at 02:38

They way you said it implied that the above statement was an oxymoron. I'll take your word on it that it wasn't malicious, and there weren't any underlying sub-texts involved, in which case I accept that as my own failure to comprehend and apologize for the misunderstanding.


Try and be a little more objective in future.

For the record I think it's pretty clear the vast majority of muslims are uneducated in many ways, but then so is the vast majority of mankind so you can take solace in that.... or maybe you'll find it depressing.
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02.05.2014 - 02:45
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by King Bonzo on 02.05.2014 at 02:41

Written by Guest on 02.05.2014 at 02:38

They way you said it implied that the above statement was an oxymoron. I'll take your word on it that it wasn't malicious, and there weren't any underlying sub-texts involved, in which case I accept that as my own failure to comprehend and apologize for the misunderstanding.


Try and be a little more objective in future.

For the record I think it's pretty clear the vast majority of muslims are uneducated in many ways, but then so is the vast majority of mankind so you can take solace in that.... or maybe you'll find it depressing.


I would if allowed to.
I don't find the lack of education depressing, but the real-life application and impact of it in everyday life. Then again, you can be qualified and still be malicious.
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02.05.2014 - 03:01
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by deadone on 02.05.2014 at 02:49

War and conflict and distrust of the different is human nature.


The golden rule. If it's as inevitable as it sounds like, the least one can do is try to douse the fire and not flame it further.

Quote:

Yes it's a low level war. Look at just about everywhere where Muslims live with non-Muslims. There is conflict. E.g. Nigeria, Central African Republic, China, India, Philippines, Indonesia. As well as Arab and Malaysian persecution of non-Muslims (or even different Islamic denominations - the undeclared Shia-Sunni conflict).

It is a two way street - e.g. attacks on Muslims in CAR or Nigeria by Christian militias or massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in India or persecution of Muslim Tartars in some parts of Russia.


Yeah but is it really how it should be? On the basis of religion alone? There shouldn't be any grouping in the first place. I don't think the vast majority are all that black/white. It's the bad apples from every denominations that are responsible, and hardly the majority. Not even condoning said parties, contrary to popular belief.

Quote:


It exists because when it comes down to it, humans are animals with same territorial and survival instinctual urges that a pride of lions or pack of wolves displays.

One sees this even in small scale stuff - the manager protecting their budget/resource allocation (even when they don't need it), back stabbing behaviour for gain at work or in family relationships.

We can ignore survival of the fittest, but it does tend to rule us when you think about it.



In any case the drummer from the Scorpions was a bit of an idiot, even though the laws of the country are even more idiotic (and this is a rather trivial example).


If it was solely that, then the no. of humans inhabiting this planet would be much less, if it was an endless cycle of competing for resources and superiority, don't you think? That's just one way to look at it. As for laws; there's holocaust denial in some countries, headscarf banning in others. I wouldn't know which ones are the most outlandish, given the HDI and other ratings. Not using that as an excuse but still.
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02.05.2014 - 07:28
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by deadone on 02.05.2014 at 04:33

Written by Guest on 02.05.2014 at 03:01

Yeah but is it really how it should be? On the basis of religion alone? There shouldn't be any grouping in the first place. I don't think the vast majority are all that black/white. It's the bad apples from every denominations that are responsible, and hardly the majority. Not even condoning said parties, contrary to popular belief.


I don't think it's just the bad apples.

Most common people tend to follow whatever the powers that be dictate should be either because they partly/wholly believe it or out of fear (not only persecution but social exclusion and fear from being seen as being different) or due to personal interests.


I dunno if you've seen the movie the Book Thief, but it's a great portrayal of how ordinary people get involved in supporting quite nasty things due to above factors.



Oh and in the case of Dubai the bad apples are the ruling elite that have some horrific and bizarre Sharia based laws and also treat workers from the third world like human excrement.

It gets even worse in Saudi Arabia.



Quote:

If it was solely that, then the no. of humans inhabiting this planet would be much less, if it was an endless cycle of competing for resources and superiority, don't you think?


Actually it's that endless cycle of competing for resources that has made the human race what it is today - quest for empire, for quest wealth, quest for religious converts and quest for furthering one's own group of people over others.

It all supports the notion of survival of the fittest quite well.


I haven't seen it yet no, but I guess I will. And to me, survival of the fittest would imply that people will always need a scapegoat, any scapegoat, as an outlet to vent their negativity. If that's the case, then any chances of reconciliation are grim indeed. That goes for either sides, mind you. I can see where you're coming from with this but at the same time I don't quite agree in the sense that people do have the reasoning power to not succumb to instinctual urges, and many a times it's the latter that's used as an umbrella term to justify anything/everything that's being done, which again I don't agree with. Two wrongs cannot and will not make a right, not in the bigger picture of things coz ultimately, neither are going to drive each other extinct, so might as well get along sans petty prejudices and bitterness.
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02.05.2014 - 18:04
J. N.
Account deleted
Written by LeChron James on 01.05.2014 at 06:11
Sweet arm sleeves, bro. I'd arrest him just for those.

"Scorpions - Drummer Arrested For Wearing Ugly Arm Sleeves In Public"
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03.05.2014 - 17:33
theFIST

Written by deadone on 02.05.2014 at 02:16

As for anti-Islam, well we've been at war with Muslims since 1993 (1st World Trade Centre bombing)

no, the intervention in the middle east had been going on before that already
----
http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com
Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:
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03.05.2014 - 19:19
Sang Dalang Abu

Boriiiiiiingggggggggggggg
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05.05.2014 - 02:55
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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05.05.2014 - 10:38
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
Written by deadone on 05.05.2014 at 04:54

Written by theFIST on 03.05.2014 at 17:33

Written by deadone on 02.05.2014 at 02:16

As for anti-Islam, well we've been at war with Muslims since 1993 (1st World Trade Centre bombing)

no, the intervention in the middle east had been going on before that already



True. One could go as far the Crusades or even earlier, to the Muslim invasion of Spain. They managed to foray as north as near Tours in France in 732 AD.


Rome occupied Egypt for awhile, if that counts (I know Egypt isn't Middle east, but some people seem to think it is).
----
"Another day, another Doug."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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11.05.2014 - 01:25
Reverend X

We should stop this rhetoric about Islam. Both sides are correct. Nobody have step on each others shoes. One sees the world as blue the other is red

The bottom line is... He is acting stupid in a place that is not his home turf.
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