So Togalk, please enlighten me as to how this is not about being arrested for drinking without a license and taking illicit drugs (that were legal in the country they were taken and legal in the rest of the world for that matter) when that is exactly what they were charged and in some cases found guilty of.
In this case they may or may not have acted like idiots. My point is, do other passengers have to worry about flying through the UAE due to this case. You should know that their will be people specifically booking Qantas or Cathay right now specifically to fly to Europe without landing in a Muslim country due to this case.
My worry is that someone pisses off the wrong person on an Etihad flight, and they are dragged off to prison for drinking alcohol that was given to them by the airline, due to not having a license.
Also my understanding of the UAE laws were that a person serving alcohol to a person without a permit was open to prosecution, so does that mean that any cabin crew that served the warm champagne to the men involved should also be charged?