Words can be slightly indigestible, but if it turns out that she only did as she was directed I'll have no problem saying that my suspicions were unfounded.
As it happens, I have been a deputy sheriff and I've seen plenty of the inside of a US jail - not, fortunately enough, on a non-voluntary basis. The proportion of people who claim that they are there without cause, and who complain mightily about the quality of the accommodations and the character of the company, would stagger you, I assure you.
Jail is not a pretty place. However, her complaints about the quality of the accommodations and the character of the company have no bearing - I say again - no bearing on whether or not she was there for cause. I dare say that the conditions for detainees and those on remand in Wandsworth or Strangeways leave a lot to be desired also. They are an unfortunate byproduct of the process of law enforcement.
I'm afraid I have to say that this comment
"Did she really deserve to be thrown in jail? We know, in retrospect that she wasn't a terrorist. "
is less-than-sanguine. Hindsight does not equal foresight.
Likewise, the fact that it now appears that she is likely not a terrorist has no bearing on whether or not she breached security measures.
You may very well be right, and she may well be the victim of the errors of others, or of her own, understandable mistake. However, I did note earlier that pax have some degree of responsibility for security also - she must be awfully naive if she felt that she could board and airplane without any security check whatever.
As to whether this would have happened in the UK - well, what would you say about the case of a US resident stopped for speeding on the M1 who spent four hours in the cells in Milton Keynes Central while the boys in blue figured out what to do with him? I've heard plenty of "could never happen HERE!" thinking in my life, and I assure you that it could, and does.
llater,
llamas