A visiting mine worker's joke comparing food to a horse penis left a bad taste in the host country's mouth.
Michael Mcfeat of Scotland was arrested in Kyrgyzstan after his Facebook jab at the country's national dish, the BBC reported. In a now-deleted Facebook post, Mcfeat reportedly captioned a picture of Kyrgyz miners lining up for "chuchuk,"or horsemeat sausage, by suggesting it was equine genitalia.
AFP wrote that his co-workers were so offended that they moved to strike at the Kumtor goldmine. Mcfeat was arrested and could actually face up to five years behind bars on charges of "racial hatred," ITV wrote.
Mcfeat (also spelled McFeat by some media) took to social media to apologize.
"We are in contact with the local authorities after a British national was detained in Kyrgyzstan and are ready to provide consular assistance," a British Foreign Office spokesperson said, according to outlets.
Some outlets screen-grabbed a purported version of the post:
Mcfeat's father, John, told the Telegraph that the intentions of his son (pictured below in an earlier Facebook post) were "nothing bad."
"He's out there as a supervisor welder to help the Kyrgyz, and it was a New Year's meal and he was praising everything that the chef had done, but it's just gone crazy," the father said.
Update: Michael Mcfeat is being deported for improper documentation, and police apparently will not pursue charges for his joke, the BBC wrote in an update. Police found that he "was not inciting ethnic violence through his comments," the outlet said.
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