Diplomat caught in solicitation of a minor

[Hurmoth]

Bedford County officials are waiting to see whether the federal government will revoke immunity for a foreign diplomat they say showed up in the Forest area yesterday expecting a tryst with a 13-year-old girl.

Dr. Salem Al-Mazrooei, a diplomat from United Arab Emirates, has not been charged with any crimes, but Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said if Al-Mazrooei's immunity is revoked, he will be charged with four felony counts of electronic solicitation of a minor.

Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, a group of Bedford County investigators who focus on Internet crimes against children, has been working this case for about a month, Brown said. He said one investigator posing online as a 13-year-old girl was contacted by Al-Mazrooei, who lives in Vienna, Va., six to eight times during the investigation.

Brown said the suspect believed the girl lived in the Lynchburg or Bedford area and that he arranged a meeting with her in the Forest/New London area of Bedford County on Wednesday afternoon.

When Al-Mazrooei showed up at the location, which police did not disclose, he had a Mapquest map of the location on the front seat of his car, Brown said.

Al-Mazrooei was handcuffed by officers at the scene, but he immediately pulled out his credentials as a diplomat. Brown said one investigator had seen diplomatic credentials before, but Al-Mazrooei was brought back to the sheriff's office so his status could be verified with the U.S. Department of State.

When Bedford County investigators determined that Al-Mazrooei is a diplomat, they had to let him go.

"As far as we know, he is back in Vienna and back at the embassy," Brown said.

But the sheriff said he has requested that the man's immunity be revoked and is faxing a case report and other paperwork to Washington, D.C., to support the request.

He did not know how long it would take to learn whether Bedford County officials can charge Al-Mazrooei with any crimes.

What is going on? I know why we diplomatic immunity, but this stuff is just sick!

Source: The Roanoke Times

Edited February 24, 2005 by Hurmoth

[kennyout]

he will be out of the country by then probablly....to save his ass...

there are some laws which should be removed from the immunity....to much **** they can get away with....

I would like it to back fire one day and some regular guy kills a person with immunity on revenge of like the person killing in hit n' run or act such as this....

[Toology]

I hope to Christ it gets revoked. Certain crimes should be exempt from immunity, sexual crimes with minors being one of them.

[Boffa Jones Veteran]

They should either have immunity or not. They should not have special cases. I personally agree with the immunity. I wouldnt want gov'ts setting up a diplomat from canada or usa with a crime that they didnt commit so they could do whatever they want with them.

[Toology]

They should either have immunity or not. They should not have special cases. I personally agree with the immunity. I wouldnt want gov'ts setting up a diplomat from canada or usa with a crime that they didnt commit so they could do whatever they want with them.

585529855[/snapback]

The risk of being framed is very real, but I'm not digging the "black and white and nothing in between" approach. Foreign governments could certainly apply pressure to ensure their diplomats receive their due process.

[Hurmoth]

They should either have immunity or not. They should not have special cases. I personally agree with the immunity.

585529855[/snapback]

I completely disagree. If a diplomat comes and murders your family, wouldn't you want them punished?

[NTUsEr Veteran]

hope they hang him

[kombolcha]

who's got authority over the immunity? the US or UAE?

he should be restricted from leaving the country until this matter is sorted.

[Hurmoth]

who's got authority over the immunity? the US or UAE?

585530560[/snapback]

I think this sort of thing is done by the UN actually... internation laws govern diplomatic immunity. Now, just like states can make their own laws, each country can also make laws to "di" as long as it doesn't violate what the UN as set forth. I'll look this up as it has been a while since I've studied this :unsure:

[Hurmoth]

hope they hang him

585530423[/snapback]

I think hanging is a bit harsh :laugh: But this guy does need to be punished for his crimes though. The law says that nobody is above the law, and this guy shouldn't be either. If the President were to do this, a Senator, Congressman, etc. doesn't matter, no one is above the law and anyone who commits a crime should be punished for their crimes, period.

[Jaded]

I think hanging is a bit harsh :laugh: But this guy does need to be punished for his crimes though. The law says that nobody is above the law, and this guy shouldn't be either. If the President were to do this, a Senator, Congressman, etc. doesn't matter, no one is above the law and anyone who commits a crime should be punished for their crimes, period.

585530637[/snapback]

While no one should be above the law, there still needs to be protection for diplomats. As it has been said before, the protection is there for a reason and there should be no exceptions. The reason they have immunity world wide is so there can be no trumped up charges for diplomats from a country they dont agree with. If anything the diplomat should be recalled and a new one sent in his place.

[kyro]

put him in jail . giv him solitary confinement with big bad bubba as his roomie. bubba will tell him wht crime he did.

[OPaul]

If he doesn't get tried in the US his home nation will.

[Dave Veteran]

who's got authority over the immunity? the US or UAE?

he should be restricted from leaving the country until this matter is sorted.

585530560[/snapback]

The UAE decides whether or not he receives the immunity. All that the US can do is declare him persona non grada. Which would mean he is barred from entry into the US for the duration of his life (and possibly even his corpse if he wanted to be buried in the US for some reason)

If he doesn't get tried in the US his home nation will.

585533411[/snapback]

That isn't normally the case at all actually. Infact if the rule of law prevails in his home country he is can not be charged with anything because of the fact it happened outside of UAE sovereignty.

While no one should be above the law, there still needs to be protection for diplomats. As it has been said before, the protection is there for a reason and there should be no exceptions. The reason they have immunity world wide is so there can be no trumped up charges for diplomats from a country they dont agree with. If anything the diplomat should be recalled and a new one sent in his place.

585532981[/snapback]

I'm inclined to agree.

[DjTeriyake]

I think some of you may be missing the underlying point of diplomatic immunity. From a cultural and anthropological point of view, it makes a lot of sense. Simply put, diplomatic immunity means that one responsible only for the laws of their own country of origin no matter what country they are in.

In an extreme example, say there was a small country where sex with 13 years olds is okay. This would be legal probably because this act is sesible to the people of that country. We cannot judge another culture by our own standards - this is a basic axion of Cultural Anthropology. If some Western women were to travel to the United Arab Emirates wearing our common fasion, most of us know that she would be considered an outsider for revealing too much skin.

Now it's probably true that in the United Arab Emirates sex with a 13 year old is indeed illegal. I'm not sure since I haven't researched but I'm assuming that it is. If it is then this diplomat probably knew it and was probably aware that his diplomatic status would prevent him from being persecuted in the U.S. If these things are in fact true then he was abusing his diplomatic immunity. However, even if he did, it's the classic case of not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. He may be abusing the international system, but that system exists for a reason, and we shouldn't be so quick to do away with the system.

However I agree that if this diplomat was abusing his privaleges, he should be punished. Wether or not he can legally be punished is a different story.