A battered man…
Orsi says he’s been too ill to work since the buckle beating. (BBC)
Sadly, after the American would not kiss and cuddle with the sheik, he was beaten with a steel belt buckle.
The sheik happens to be the brother of the United Arab Emirates’ ruler.
Planet Out reported:
Geneva’s chief prosecutor argued Thursday that a brother of the United Arab Emirates’ ruler should receive the maximum penalty on a charge of assaulting an American man with his belt in a luxury hotel bar.
Silvano Orsi, a resident of Rochester, N.Y., says Sheik Falah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan hit him repeatedly with a belt with a steel buckle after Orsi declined a bottle of champagne from the sheik.
The sheik and his lawyer deny the charges. Defense lawyer Marco Crisante told the court that Orsi’s legal complaint was full of lies meant to pressure the sheik for money.
…Orsi said that after he refused the champagne the sheik, whom he had never met, came up behind him, jostled his glasses, sat in his lap and tried to kiss and fondle him. When Orsi protested, the assault began, he said.
The sheik says the men got into a heated argument after he overheard someone call him gay and acknowledged that he pulled his belt from his trousers, but insists he never struck Orsi.
Crisante said security officers intervened and prevented the sheik from whipping Orsi, who angered the sheik by calling him gay during the August 2003 incident.
Orsi says that he suffered a herniated disk, nerve damage in his legs, post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares that have left him disabled and often sleepless.
Here’s more on the beating:
Orsi, who was chief operating officer of a telecommunications consulting company with many clients in the Middle East, said an inebriated patron approached his table and offered him a drink. Orsi, who said he doesn’t drink alcohol, declined.
Moments later, a waiter brought over a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne — a gift from the stranger. Orsi said he didn’t touch the bottle but waved his thanks to its donor.
Within 15 minutes, the stranger walked up to Orsi from behind, knocked off his glasses, sat in his lap, licked his ears and attempted to sexually assault him, Orsi claimed. Orsi tried to fend off the stranger, and the stranger took off his belt and flailed Orsi repeatedly with the metal buckle, Orsi said.
“He said no stupid American was going to tell him what to do,” Orsi said.