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French tourist sentenced to 8 years in jail over drone flight.

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kjonyou

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They finally did it, the Frenchman was sentenced to eight years in prison and was handed an additional eight-month sentence for propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system, You thought your drone laws were bad, don't even think about doing it in other countries without knowing the laws, they are not fooling around.

Tourist’s huge jail sentence over drone flight
 
They finally did it, the Frenchman was sentenced to eight years in prison and was handed an additional eight-month sentence for propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system, You thought your drone laws were bad, don't even think about doing it in other countries without knowing the laws, they are not fooling around.

Tourist’s huge jail sentence over drone flight
I believe it's a foolish move on the part of the iranian government. They are only creating a continuing worldwide disapproval of their country, government and it's citizenry. If and or when a country or a coalition of countries decide to topple their government they will get very little support. Except maybe in arm sales. Arms dealers can't resist the potential profits.
 
I believe it's a foolish move on the part of the iranian government. They are only creating a continuing worldwide disapproval of their country, government and it's citizenry. If and or when a country or a coalition of countries decide to topple their government they will get very little support. Except maybe in arm sales. Arms dealers can't resist the potential profits.
As if the Iranian's give to s***s about that.
 
Other sources, including BBC, say that he was charged with espionage, not violating drone laws. It sounds like the drone flight alone didn't prompt the eight-year sentence. The title of this thread is misleading.

(I'm not defending Iran by any means, just suggesting that this is about international politics than drone laws.)
 
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Thanks for sharing
 
Other sources, including BBC, say that he was charged with espionage, not violating drone laws. It sounds like the drone flight alone didn't prompt the eight-year sentence. The title of this thread is misleading.

(I'm not defending Iran by any means, just suggesting that this is about international politics than drone laws.)
That's a bullcrap charge that is used to cover almost ANY thing you are doing (or not doing).
 
That's a bullcrap charge that is used to cover almost ANY thing you are doing (or not doing).
Most likely just a way to punish those from countries they have a beef with, that’d be any western nation I guess.
Far from the worst / only world power exerting it’s anger on others who disagree / speak out about draconian policies.

You never know though.
I know nothing of the case, whether the pilot was innocently unaware of anything sensitive around them, or maybe they were some sort of spy.
All countries have them, and travelling as a ‘stupid tourist’ would be the cover of choice.
 
They finally did it, the Frenchman was sentenced to eight years in prison and was handed an additional eight-month sentence for propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system, You thought your drone laws were bad, don't even think about doing it in other countries without knowing the laws, they are not fooling around.

Tourist’s huge jail sentence over drone flight
Anyone who goes to that country or even on the border is risking arrest and imprisonment. There were several teens hiking there several years ago -totally innocent, also arrested. Google itScreen Shot 2022-02-11 at 3.45.03 PM.png
 
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They finally did it, the Frenchman was sentenced to eight years in prison and was handed an additional eight-month sentence for propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system, You thought your drone laws were bad, don't even think about doing it in other countries without knowing the laws, they are not fooling around.

Tourist’s huge jail sentence over drone flight
He was arrested because he is a foreigner doing something the uneducated morons who arrested him don't understand or trust. Foreigners in Middle Eastern prisons are political currency.

The Islamic guard are recruited from largely uneducated sources and don't care about our version of laws or liberty. They are zealots who are looked after very well in return for total obedience and group thinking. If they don't abide by their commanders orders, they are treated the same as an enemy of the Islamic state and sent for "rehabilitation".

A loose European parallel would be the former East German Stasi.

And yes, he is now a pawn in political negotiations. The poor guy is in a really bad situation and I feel for him.
 
YouTubers think they are immune to all these laws. One guy I was watching defiantly filming in places I know are restricted and he comment in many of his videos is "oh I am sure this is illegal, probably broke some laws, next time I will be more careful. The of course he does it again and again.
 
I lived in Malaysia / Singapore for many years. Many laws seemed OTT to expats, but you are in their country so you play by their rules. If not, dont go.

I once had to stand outside the entrance to the Singapores department of internal affairs and yell out, through a relay chain of voices, instructions on how to set up complex equipment, to a tecnician in an office at the far end of the first floor. Why?, because their laws did not allow foreigners into the building, despite my working to install very advanced communications gear! I was their for 9 years, wrote many technology impact advisory papers for the government, and still had to go through that!
 
He was arrested because he is a foreigner doing something the uneducated morons who arrested him don't understand or trust. Foreigners in Middle Eastern prisons are political currency.

The Islamic guard are recruited from largely uneducated sources and don't care about our version of laws or liberty. They are zealots who are looked after very well in return for total obedience and group thinking. If they don't abide by their commanders orders, they are treated the same as an enemy of the Islamic state and sent for "rehabilitation".

A loose European parallel would be the former East German Stasi.

And yes, he is now a pawn in political negotiations. The poor guy is in a really bad situation and I feel for him.

Everything you said there is true ... except for the part about this being some "poor guy". He was a moron who willfully encroached upon territory administered by one of the most backward, intolerant, and unpredictable regimes in the world. If the guy hadn't been convicted for espionage he should have been put in prison for stupidity.
 
Agree. I made that comment purely because I wouldn't want to be in his shoes even if just for the politics. Then again, I wouldn't have allowed myself to get there in the first place. The treatment he will receive as a foreigner will be harsh.

When I lived in Malaysia, I used to see female German tourists parading themselves in tiny bikinis on the beach in front of a small, remote islands mosque. Their answer to being politely asked to cover up even a small amount by the locals was almost always, "if you don't want us here, you shouldn't invite us". Perhaps, but you can still move a little way down the beach, or show some respect for local laws and traditions. In the end, a local law was brought out, notified on tourist material, that bikinis were banned on that beach. It didn't stop anything, they just carried on.

Far too many people go to other countries and think they can carry on as at home, because they are bringing money to the impoverished locals. Its not just youtubers that think they can do whatever they want, and its been going on for a very long time.
 
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Agree. I made that comment purely because I wouldn't want to be in his shoes even if just for the politics. Then again, I wouldn't have allowed myself to get there in the first place. The treatment he will receive as a foreigner will be harsh.

When I lived in Malaysia, I used to see female German tourists parading themselves in tiny bikinis on the beach in front of a small, remote islands mosque. Their answer to being politely asked to cover up even a small amount by the locals was almost always, "if you don't want us here, you shouldn't invite us". Perhaps, but you can still move a little way down the beach, or show some respect for local laws and traditions. In the end, a local law was brought out, notified on tourist material, that bikinis were banned on that beach. It didn't stop anything, they just carried on.

Far too many people go to other countries and think they can carry on as at home, because they are bringing money to the impoverished locals. Its not just youtubers that think they can do whatever they want, and its been going on for a very long time.

I traveled to Malaysia many times on business ... probably close to 50 times ... and I know exactly what you mean. Whether a person is "invited" or not, they are guests of the host country and have a responsibility to behave with respect.
 
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He was arrested because he is a foreigner doing something the uneducated morons who arrested him don't understand or trust. Foreigners in Middle Eastern prisons are political currency.

The Islamic guard are recruited from largely uneducated sources and don't care about our version of laws or liberty. They are zealots who are looked after very well in return for total obedience and group thinking. If they don't abide by their commanders orders, they are treated the same as an enemy of the Islamic state and sent for "rehabilitation".

A loose European parallel would be the former East German Stasi.

And yes, he is now a pawn in political negotiations. The poor guy is in a really bad situation and I feel for him.
"Uneducated morons". Wow! What a sweeping generalisation. Keep on watching the news channels.
 
Who in their right mind vacations in or near Iran or North Korea??
This is the exact thought that crosses my mind when I read these kinds of stories. They go to these places thinking "I am going to show everyone on social media how wrong they are" and end up in prison. Play stupid games...
 
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"Uneducated morons". Wow! What a sweeping generalisation. Keep on watching the news channels.
I don't watch news channels. Not one. My comments were based on actual personal experience. I lived, travelled and worked for many years in several Islamic countries, including Algiera (I was brought up there and my mothers family is from Algiers), Morocco, Northern Nigeria (spent several years there as a child), Benin, Togo, rural Indonesia, rural Malaysia, UAE. I have also witnessed first hand the violence committed by zealots on both sides, including having colleagues blown up by a terrorist bomb placed under their car, people being killed during the later stages of the Battle of Algiers, and our neighbours in Lagos were randomly chosen and brutally murdered by a religion driven terrorist group, including the baby.

My last experience was to be in a small passenger aircraft picking up 19 passengers from a remote airstrip in Sudan, only to discover the "passengers" were 19 goats and the Shepard was carrying a loaded AK47 and an RPG!

Many of the more extreme people and organizations recruit poor low education level people from remote communities as they can be easily trained and made faithful to the cause, and because they are looked after and don't know any different.

I lived as a child and worked as an adult, including civilian and the military, in these countries and survived because I was taught and understand that when you go to these places you have to fit in and not do anything remotely out of step with local thinking and experience, if not, you are asking for trouble.
 
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I don't watch news channels. Not one. My comments were based on actual personal experience. I lived, travelled and worked for many years in several Islamic countries, including Algiera (I was brought up there and my mothers family is from Algiers), Morocco, Northern Nigeria (spent several years there as a child), Benin, Togo, rural Indonesia, rural Malaysia, UAE. I have also witnessed first hand the violence committed by zealots on both sides, including having colleagues blown up by a terrorist bomb placed under their car, people being killed during the later stages of the Battle of Algiers, and our neighbours in Lagos were randomly chosen and brutally murdered by a religion driven terrorist group, including the baby.

My last experience was to be in a small passenger aircraft picking up 19 passengers from a remote airstrip in Sudan, only to discover the "passengers" were 19 goats and the Shepard was carrying a loaded AK47 and an RPG!

Many of the more extreme people and organizations recruit poor low education level people from remote communities as they can be easily trained and made faithful to the cause, and because they are looked after and don't know any different.

I lived as a child and worked as an adult, including civilian and the military, in these countries and survived because I was taught and understand that when you go to these places you have to fit in and not do anything remotely out of step with local thinking and experience, if not, you are asking for trouble.
None of that makes your generalisation justified. Its like saying that all Americans are gun toting idiots or all Australians are the descendents of criminals. Are you implying that people from any Islamic country are uneducated morons?
 
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