American Man Gets Year in Prison in Dubai over Parody Video

Spoof made fun of country's youth culture

An American man detained for months in the United Arab Emirates and seven co-defendants were fined and sentenced to up to a year in prison Monday after being convicted in connection to a satirical video about youth culture in Dubai.

The video they produced and uploaded to the Internet was a spoof documentary of would-be "gangsta" youth in the Gulf Arab city-state. The state-owned daily The National said they were accused of "defaming the image of United Arab Emirates society abroad." Supporters of the defendants reported that they were charged under a 2012 cybercrimes law that tightened penalties for challenging authorities.

Shezanne Cassim, a 29-year-old U.S. citizen from Woodbury, Minn., became the public face of the defendants after his family launched an effort to publicize his months-long incarceration following his arrest in April.