A Boston man who alleges that a brother of the ruler of the United Arab Emirates whipped him in the face with a belt in 2003 has filed a defamation lawsuit against the brother. Sheik Falah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was fined for his alleged attack on Silvano Orsi, but a Swiss appeals court quashed his conviction of inflicting bodily harm with a dangerous object.
Orsi, now a law student at Boston University, alleges that the sheik hit him after Orsi declined a bottle of champagne in a Geneva hotel bar. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Orsi claims the sheik and his associates have slandered him in the media by implying that he discriminates against Muslims and is homophobic. The sheik has denied Orsi's allegations.