I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court • Hacker News Board

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#41

Post by klenwell » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:21 PM UTC

mind_heist wrote: post #5

Is that picture going to get Irlan in trouble ?

The same thing crossed my mind. In his statement to the judge, he says:

I very sincerely, on behalf of my country and Obama, my state and Arnold Schwarzenegger, myself and my family beseeched her to be lenient in her judgment.

Schwarzenegger was governor until 2011, which would presumably date his escapades to sometime between 2009 and 2011. Hopefully it's long enough ago to clear Irlan or anyone else mentioned or photographed in the post of any problems should it get traced back to them.

Great story, by the way. Well told.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#42

Post by celticninja » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:23 PM UTC

Teever wrote: post #40

pavel_lishin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: given how ... unstable ... McAfee seems to be, how reliable is this guide?

Is McAfee that unstable? Like I understand that he has done a lot of crazy drug addled things but I don't think that necessarily means that he is stupid or insane.

I agree. Alexander Shulgin did far more than McAfee and i dont think anyone would question his sanity.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#43

Post by aflex » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:23 PM UTC

fsckin wrote: post #11

This reminds me of Bert Kreischers' story about his travels in Russia as part of a language immersion trip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PAtFsJY5q0

One of my favorite stories from mother land.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#44

Post by krick » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:27 PM UTC

mind_heist wrote: post #5

Is that picture going to get Irlan in trouble ?

I hope not, but it seems to me that not taking photos if explicitly asked not to is the least you can do for a guy who, upon arresting you treats you like a best friend, helps you to get refund for unused ticket and buys you bear and coffee. Hell, it's actually only human to restrain from taking photos of somebody who doesn't want to, but doing so to that Irlan guy?

The most repulsive thing is author doesn't do that because of malevolence. He just honestly doesn't care.

It's funny that probably being a type of person that I dislike so much, may be actually helping him to write a story I like so much.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#45

Post by vbezhenar » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:31 PM UTC

I'm surprised, that a western man is so ready to participate in corruption. I live in Kazakhstan and I would be very afraid to bribe an official, it could become worse very fast and if you are caught with that, you'll have to bribe much more people or end up in a jail with a very serious offence. I definitely don't recommend to bribe an official in Kazakhstan, usually it's better and safer to follow a law.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#46

Post by kome » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:40 PM UTC

clydethefrog wrote: post #39

jgust wrote: post #35

Can anyone tell me what this means? > ...in another ten years, you will see, we’ll be living like Arabs.

The future of Kazakhstan is highly unstable. The current slightly benevolent dictator has no good processor and the development of Kazakhstan is mostly dependent of oil, so when renewable energy becomes the norm and rhe president dies in the coming ten years the country will probably implode.

nope, "living like Arabs in 10 years" in that context means becoming rich.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#47

Post by CamperBob2 » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:43 PM UTC

drpp wrote: post #36

johansch wrote: post #24

a) Sensationalist headline - something that seems amazing to someone who is not e.g. russian - but the person is actually russian b) Outing the photo of a cute 18 yo girl "who just got raped" Yes - an interesting story - but this is extreme clickbait likely for profit. And problematic in other dimensions. This guy is an opportunist who does not seem to care about other people.

A) This was a pretty unusual experience for me. And I think it is unusual for the readers. B) I can see your point. She did ask me to take photos and to tell her story. I have not been in touch with her in a while. I will deliberate for a bit and consider taking down her photos. There is no profit motive. I am not paid for this story.

Irlan (left) wouldn’t let me take pictures, but occasionally I’d sneak one in.

I'm not sure what to think about this. Corruption is bad. But this particular official's heart seemed to be in the right place, and he treated you with respect, honesty, and generosity, even when he didn't have to. He doesn't seem to have been repaid in kind.

I want to say something like, "Hopefully Irlan isn't on the wrong side of the courtroom as a result of your story," but on the other hand... corruption is bad, and I don't want the legal system in my own country to work this way.

So, did you do a good thing by exposing Irlan and his colleagues, or a bad thing by betraying them? I honestly don't know. You made me empathize with someone I wouldn't ordinarily empathize with, and then you stuck a knife in his back. Which is interesting.

Parenthetically, if you're a US citizen, you're subject to the FCPA, which can potentially be a pretty big deal. Google it if you're not familiar with the acronym. I don't know if the FCPA's reach extends to bribing low-level immigration officials, but it's worth looking into if you plan to leave the article up.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#48

Post by nathan_f77 » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:43 PM UTC

Ooh, I have a relevant story that I've never shared before.

I was living in Kazakhstan for a while and had to take the overnight train to Kyrgyzstan for a visa run. They're very old trains. I woke up around 3am and had to use the restroom. The train had just stopped at a station in the middle of nowhere, and it was the middle of winter. I went to the restroom. I flushed. But when I looked down through the toilet, I saw snow and train tracks. These trains didn't have anything to collect waste, they just flushed straight onto the ground. I immediately heard some loud whistles and shouting, and footsteps.

I rushed back to the bed and hoped that no-one saw me, but it was too late, and then we spent the next 30 minutes talking to soldiers. I wasn't sure if they were asking for extra money, or if it was something we needed to pay anyway because we were crossing the border.

It was a tiny train station in the middle of nowhere, and we had no SIM cards, so I started thinking about what we would do if they kicked us off the train. I was actually kind of excited about the idea of building an igloo and sleeping there overnight, and then going to get some help in the morning. That would have been a better story, but in the end they just let us go.

So don't flush any ex-soviet train toilets when you're stopped at a station in Central Asia.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#49

Post by vkou » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:47 PM UTC

drpp wrote: post #36

johansch wrote: post #24

a) Sensationalist headline - something that seems amazing to someone who is not e.g. russian - but the person is actually russian b) Outing the photo of a cute 18 yo girl "who just got raped" Yes - an interesting story - but this is extreme clickbait likely for profit. And problematic in other dimensions. This guy is an opportunist who does not seem to care about other people.

A) This was a pretty unusual experience for me. And I think it is unusual for the readers. B) I can see your point. She did ask me to take photos and to tell her story. I have not been in touch with her in a while. I will deliberate for a bit and consider taking down her photos. There is no profit motive. I am not paid for this story.

Did you change the names of the officials involved in this story?

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#50

Post by _delirium » Thu, Jul 21, 2016, 9:50 PM UTC

nathan_f77 wrote: post #48

Ooh, I have a relevant story that I've never shared before. I was living in Kazakhstan for a while and had to take the overnight train to Kyrgyzstan for a visa run. They're very old trains. I woke up around 3am and had to use the restroom. The train had just stopped at a station in the middle of nowhere, and it was the middle of winter. I went to the restroom. I flushed. But when I looked down through the toilet, I s…

> But don't flush any ex-soviet train toilets when you're stopped at a train station.

Not just ex-Soviet trains, British ones too. Newer and renovated trains have sewage tanks, but older trains flush directly onto the tracks (and often therefore have a sign in the toilet asking you not to flush when stopped at a station). According to the BBC, as of 2015 this applied to about 10% of the trains in service: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30541015

The tabloids periodically have a field day with it when people notice again that these trains are still not quite phased out. E.g. in 2014, there was a minor sensation about the quantity of "fertiliser" on the tracks producing tomato growth: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/trains-dump-much-human-...