Allegedly that is, uh, if you ask officials in the UAE. Apparently another not-so brilliant traveler went into territories that really aren’t meant for outsiders. Matthew Hodges, 31,  found himself accused of spying for a foreign power over the summer — thus — being charged with the UAE’s definition of a life-sentence in prison (a maximum of 25 years at that).
According to dockets obtained by The Daily News, officials,  pretty much strong-armed Hodges into confessing that he was a spy “in a language he didn’t even understand”.  Documents from Hodges’ travel report show that he does not speak or read Arabic, however, UAE officials forced him to sign a confession in such a language.
Interestingly, UAE officials claimed in a comment to The Daily News that “Hodges did indeed admit to spying after being shown numerous compelling pieces of evidence and witness statements of his unusual behavior (translated from Arabic).”