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I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

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

#51

Post by vkou »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #47
drpp wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 cou…

IANAL,

Is the FCPA applicable outside the context of business transactions?

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

#52

Post by tn13 »

_delirium wrote: post #50
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.…

Almost all modern Indian trains are like this too. But I dont think you will get into trouble for shitting on a station.

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

#53

Post by johansch »

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.

> There is no profit motive. I am not paid for this story.

There's building your personal brand and/or company. You know, that startup you're the CEO of.

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

#54

Post by trhway »

vbezhenar wrote: post #45

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.

>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

by association, how even the ones with Masters in Bribery can make a rookie mistake - right these days the top staff of the Moscow DA office (the first deputy) and Russia AG office (the head of the Internal Affairs and his first deputy) have just been arrested by FSB on charges of taking bribes (on the scale of 1M euro) for helping the recently arrested "thief in law" (a king in organized crime hierarchy) and his "colleagues". The issue of course not the bribes itself :) The "king"'s group tried to extort from a restaurant which was under "protection" of ("roofed by") a group of former KGB officers (thus FSB involvement). One would think that challenging KGB/FSB wouldn't be a smart move, and it probably can be explained by the fact that the "king" - Shakro "Young" - was crowned only recently after the previous "king" had been killed (that guy was "Grandpa Hasan", i kid you not, it is Moscow, 21st century :). By taking the bribes the DA guys made the same rookie mistake of going against FSB.

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

#55

Post by wavefunction »

celticninja wrote: post #42
Teever wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sasha was a responsible scientist with a stable life.

McAfee is someone who kept a minor girlfriend, fled Belize after being implicated in the murder of his neighbor and spent most of his time down there booty bumping bath salts.

For some perspective.

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

#56

Post by meddlepal »

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…

This was somewhat common until recently on small tourist and passenger trains in the US too until about 15-20 years ago. The Cape Cod Railroad was shutdown for a long time due to disposing of waste on the tracks

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

#57

Post by Someone »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #22
swimnow wrote: post #17

Something similar happened to me. I was a citizen of Uzbekistan at the time. I was about to fly out of Almaty. When the lady at the checkpoint saw my passport, she asked where my exit visa was. I never knew all the Uzbek citizens needed one to leave the post Soviet territory. So, I was denied my seat on the plane. Had to renew my ticket for $50. Come next day, another lady at the checkpoint says the same thing - with…

How much would it have cost to get an exit visa?

In dollars, I would guess less. In hours, likely a lot longer.

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

#58

Post by gpvos »

_delirium wrote: post #50
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.…

Many Dutch trains too, including fairly recent ones. Definitely far more than 10%.

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

#59

Post by CamperBob2 »

vkou wrote: post #51
CamperBob2 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 cou…

IANAL, Is the FCPA applicable outside the context of business transactions?

Dunno. However, the Feds have a long history of defining "business transactions" in whatever terms suit their purposes at the moment. (Wickard v. Filburn comes to mind, for one thing.) And certainly export regulations don't make a distinction between commercial and private transactions.

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

#60

Post by asymmetric »

dakics wrote: post #32

Great story! 5 years ago we went on a Mongol Rally. Driving European vehicle through the Stans makes you easy prey for local policeman. My co-driver had a strategy of befriending them and sharing small gifts (pens, lighters etc.). Most expensive were Tajik GBAO guards, they got headlamps. During my shifts I had 2 encounters but played dumb, even though I'm native in similar language and could communicate. No bribes g…

Would love to read about your experience on the Mongol Rally!
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