Two Steamboat Springs men who have been detained in the United Arab Emirates since December should be heading home soon, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar said.
Jonathan Coles and Steve Rakowski were working in the United Arab Emirates for mapping company CompassData, based in Centennial, when they were placed under house arrest for allegedly taking unauthorized photos of government installations late last year.
The company has said the matter was a misunderstanding. The men’s passports were confiscated, and they were told they could not leave the country.
The State Department said the court process in the men’s cases ended Monday, and both were fined the equivalent of about $550, said Salazar, D-Colo.
The senator said the men should be able to get their passports back once fines are paid, and would likely leave for home soon after that.
Salazar and Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., had met with UAE Ambassador Al Asri Saeed Ahmed Al Dhahri a few weeks ago to lobby for a quick resolution to the case.
The UAE, between Oman and Saudi Arabia, borders the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. It is slightly smaller than Maine and has an estimated population of 3.44 million.
