An Australian living in the sleepy Central Coast hamlet of Bateau Bay is arrested by US Federal Agents and whisked away to the US where he is charged with Internet Piracy costing US corporates millions of dollars... The Australian Government complies with every wish of the US and the man is sentenced this weekend and is jailed for 4 years. An Aussie citizen subject to US Law and sent to a US jail despite never having set foot into the United States.
Pretty ordinary...
Scenario 2: A US Sailor whilst physically in Australia as part of naval exercises is caught in an internet sting trying to solicit sex from a 14 year old school girl (who was an Australian police man (or woman) posing on the internet as a 14yr old girl). Australian authorities want to detain the sailor for questioning with a view of laying charges. End result - the US Govt gives the two fingers and the sailor is free to leave Australia where he may return to the US and perhaps continue with his paedophilia tendencies.
Double standards? Scenario 1 is a criminal, but his nationality does not stop the US throwing the full book at him when pursuing victims who have balance sheets the size of third world African countries, but when the reverse happens and the US citizen was trolling the net for under age sex, thats OK...
WTF is going on in the world?
2 comments:
I understand your point, but it has much more to do with the fact that one is Military and the other is civilian. The U.S. and other nations have protected their men in military service from local judicial systems for a long time. There's plenty of cases of women being raped etc by soldiers at the U.S. bases in Korea and Japan and it is almost always handled in house by the Military.
BTW, not disagreeing with you at all, the Aussies should have every right to lock a creep like this up regardless of his nationality/organization/etc...
I wouldn't be surprised if he is tried and punished by the Navy's judicial process though. I imagine the story hasn't ended here.
I don't know why we're surprised by the US action. Military or not, this man has committed a CIVIL crime in Australia and the US or its military has no jurisdiction here.
The NSW Police should refuse to hand him over no matter what is agreed between the US and their toadies in Canberra.
Good on you for bring this up.
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