Misbehaviour abroard = punishment unjust?

[Lace Neil Singer]

This is a question brought up mainly by the story of the two girls who faked an insurance claim, so were thrown into prison in Brazil. There were countless stories in newspapers showing their tearful faces as they insisted they were innocent and people giving the opinion that they didn't deserve to be jailed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...o-robbery.html

Apparently now they're admitting faking the robbery. They described the jail as a "living hell"; however, it seems to my mind that if you can't do the time then don't do the crime; either here or abroad. If you go on holiday to Singapore and know damn well that the punishment for theft is being caned, then don't whine and cry when you steal something and get what's coming to you. Most of these people seem to do exactly that and expect the government to intervene.

[Greenday]

I don't like it when people break the law in other countries and expect to be bailed out. You'd get punished if you did it in your country, so why shouldn't you get punished in another country? Their country, their rules. Suck it up and deal with it. Or better yet, don't commit the crime!

[BroomJockey]

There's a case right now of a Canadian who's in prison in another country, legitimately, from everything I can tell. But for some reason the person's family and friends want the Canadian government to stop all aid to that country in an attempt to force them to allow this Canadian to be repatriated. My google skills suck today, so I can't find the story, but what I remember is that this person was actually born in the country where they're currently imprisoned.

Lemme see. They want someone who was born in that country to somehow become immune to that country's laws, just because they're Canadian now. And have Canada spend probably tens of thousands of dollars, and disrupt humanitarian efforts, just to get a criminal (as I said, no one's disputing that he's guilty, from what I saw) back to Canada. Dumb. As long as the punishment's not against human rights as defined by the home country (death penalty, for a quick example, or an unfair trial, for a second), one government has no business interferring in the justice system of another sovereign nation on behalf of their citizens.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Everyone would be up in arms if a Brazilian was arrested and charged in the UK for a crime, and Brazil were asking for him to be flown back; the hypocritical behaviour of some people worries me. -.- These girls were law students; they knew that insurance theft was wrong, so they thoroughly deserved anything that the Brazilians chose to hit them with. At least their conviction will mean they won't be able to practice law in this country.

[Greenday]

There's also that case of those two reporters who snuck into North Korea and got caught. I know Bill Clinton, our political lord and savior, got them out, but I disagree with doing so. They weren't prisoners of war, they were criminals. They illegal entered the country and were paying for it. The deserved to get punished in some form.

[AdminAssistant]

I agree that if you blatantly break the laws of a country, then you should be punished in accordance with that country's judicial system, as long as it's within the bounds of human rights. However, I feel there's a difference between the stories previously mentioned and the case of the two American reporters who were imprisoned in North Korea and recently pardoned and returned to the US, or the American hikers that may or may not be in prison in Iran because they crossed an unmarked border.

[BroomJockey]

They illegal entered the country and were paying for it.

The standard punishment for illegal entry to a country is deportation. A country imprisoning people for it is off-standard, so getting them out is a bit different situation.

[Greenday]

The standard punishment for illegal entry to a country is deportation. A country imprisoning people for it is off-standard, so getting them out is a bit different situation.

Yes, but if you are going to enter illegally into another country, picking one we are at a state of war with is a bad choice. They are lucky they weren't beaten and tortured every single day.

[AdminAssistant]

The standard punishment for illegal entry to a country is deportation. A country imprisoning people for it is off-standard, so getting them out is a bit different situation.

Exactly. And if it had been, say, two Russian reporters or two French reporters, it would've been different. But they were Americans, and the folks in North Korea knew they now had a bargaining chip. And so, North Koreans got a meeting with former President Bill Clinton, and the two Americans got to go home. Also, I know I heard the plane that was used to fly to and from North Korea was donated by some exec, so there weren't any taxpayer dollars involved there.

[BroomJockey]

Yes, but if you are going to enter illegally into another country, picking one we are at a state of war with is a bad choice.

to be fair, they're reporters, you said. A country you're at war with is the *perfect* country to go to.

As for being beaten, that'd likely be taken as an act of open aggression.

[Flyndaran]

to be fair, they're reporters, you said. A country you're at war with is the *perfect* country to go to.

As for being beaten, that'd likely be taken as an act of open aggression.

Like the U.S. kidnapping a german citizen and possibly torturing him? Oh wait, that did happen, europe did jack squat about it, and Obama has never appologised for "our" torturing people.
All governments are corrupt, selfish sacks of feces.

[BroomJockey]

All governments are corrupt, selfish sacks of feces.

Mine's not. Mine's just selfish, and smells kinda funny.

[Rapscallion]

Mine's sort-of corrupt in parts, more concerned with spinning stories than actual facts, consists of genetic throwbacks, and smells funny. Oh, and they have a huge amount of wierd customs.

http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=c...at&hl=en&gl=uk

Try from about page six onwards. Some bizarre stuff in there.

Rapscallion

[AFPheonix]

Mine's not. Mine's just selfish, and smells kinda funny.

You have a goofy-looking PM

[BroomJockey]

You have a goofy-looking PM

Man, you shoulda seen the one we had a while ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Chrétien

Not only was he goofy looking, he had the most unintelligible accent ever! Canadian politics is awesome for mocking.