article: Shezanne Cassim and several friends who made and uploaded a comedy video to YouTube were eventually tried and convicted of endangering national security under the UAE's recently introduced cyber-crimes act. They were released just a few days before a high-profile BBC interview in January 2014 between Jon Sopel and the ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al Maktoum. In that interview, Sheikh Mohammed acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the case. In March this year, Mr Cassim made an appeal directly to the president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan. He also sent a copy to the UAE ambassador in Washington. There has been no reply. Mr Cassim says he is struggling to find work in the US as a result of being unable to declare a spent conviction for endangering national security in the UAE. He continues to profess his innocence. And whilst he was in jail, the case became high profile enough - in late 2013 - to feature on comedian Will Ferrell's Funny Or Die website. The Funny or Die film included pleas for Mr Cassim's release by several high-profile comedians. Mr Ferrell said: "We are submitting this in support of Shez and his eventual freeing from being wrongly jailed." And whilst Mr Cassim faced a potentially very long jail sentence, a few weeks after the #freeshez campaign which started around nine months after he was jailed - he was convicted and released for time already served. It's not the first time this has happened in the UAE on a high-profile story. Others include a road rage incident, in which a man was held under the cyber-crimes act for uploading a video of an apparent assault to YouTube. The uploader faced charges with a potential jail sentence twice as long as the maximum faced by the local citizen he had filmed repeatedly hitting an Indian van driver. Then there was an American who was jailed amid a dispute about sick leave. His alleged crime involved defamation of his employer, by commenting on the dispute on social media. In both those cases, all charges were eventually dropped. But not so for Mr Cassim. A spent conviction means no return to his home Dubai in the UAE - ever. After being released and deported to the US early last year, Mr Cassim and his family have chosen to speak for the first time on camera about the case to BBC News. He said: "Conditions in the jail were just terrible. There were around 130 inmates and only three toilets. And none of those toilets flushed." He added: "We gave our souls to that city, and to be treated this way is something that has been incredibly difficult to deal with." The impact on the family - who spent the majority of their lives working in Dubai - has been huge. Defending Mr Cassim has cost more than just their savings, said his mother Jean. "I can't remember a night that I had a good night's rest," she said. "For some
summary: An American who says he was jailed in Dubai for several months without even knowing the charges against him is seeking a royal pardon from the city's ruler.