ANS,
I have to disagree with most of your points.
EY did not lock them up and charge them with consumption of alcohol. The UAE government did that. (The EY staff only made the complaint and handed the matter over to the police on arrival, as would any other airline anywhere in the world in a similar situation.)
I do agree with you that the charge of consuming alcohol on board without a permit is ridiculous as, as far as I know the a/c was in international airspace at the time and not under control of UAE law.( Correct me if I am wrong, I am not a lawyer)
To make a stupid statement like warning people against flying Etihad because of this is just that, stupid and ignorant. Why not add to that list Emirates, Quatar, Gulf, Jazeera and indeed any other carrier from anywhere in the world that lands in the UAE!
The law is the same all over the UAE and not made by Etihad. The same would have happened regardless of which carrier they were on.
These Business men were resident in the UAE, so therefor must have known what the laws regarding alcohol,etc were. They should have also had an understanding of the way things work here and realized that the only losers in this whole thing would be them and their families.
The clever thing, as a businessman, to have done would have been to formally complain about any discrepancies in writing to Etihad and take the refund or what ever compensation Etihad might have offered.
However it is always easy to find a solution in the sober light of day.