What about this?
http://www.thelocal.se/20120419/40368
>> If you're taken to a supposed "secret prison", you're probably there to stay.
Okay, thank you very much, I'm staying home then.
That article was about the US treating a Muslim terribly. That happens, and unfortunately it seems to happen very often, and with little justifying evidence. What I'm saying is that I haven't heard it happening to a friend of a Muslim, which was the original scenario.
>> Okay, thank you very much, I'm staying home then.
My comment was made tongue in cheek. Secret prisons on US soil are near unheard of, but if they do exist I'm assuming only very high profile targets would be sent there. If they are taking low level suspects there for interrogation and releasing them, it wouldn't be secret for very long. My point is, the scenario is bad spy novel material, and doesn't remotely reflect reality.
But they have rich guys behind them. What if they decide to make "an example" of me, to scare everyone in the US and abroad and convince them to give in and just pay extortion money to them? Right know every non-US company just ignores them and that's huge potential money to be made. It cannot be done through European courts for instance but they could use another intimidation tactic like making the IT community know that everyone who doesn't pay to the trolls will be arrested if he ever crosses the US border. That would be a very profitable venture.
To be fair, I'm sure I have a lot of assumptions about Russia that you would find equally ridiculous.
Would you call me ridiculous if I told you I'll never come to Russia because I believe a joke I made about Putin years ago on the internet will get me assassinated in the streets? I would certainly hope so.
Don't let irrational fear guide your decisions.