Devyani Khobragade gets full diplomatic immunity, flies back home

[Sergi]

I am wondering how will be the future relations between Bhrara and State department. He caught them pants down

Any US member can throw light on DA's appointments and removals. I am just wondering

 

[Developereo]

Not really. If a consul with partial immunity breaks a domestic law, then the host country is supposed to follow certain procedures. One, to inform the consular general. Two, to initiate and complete all legal proceedings, hold the trial, find her guilty and ONLY THEN arrest her. (It is different from the procedure for ordinary visitors or citizens.) She should not have been arrested before the trial was over, that is part of the convention covering consular relations.

The Americans maintain that everything was according to protocol, given her level of immunity at the time.

As for the nature of the "crime", that is standard practice among the diplomats of most developing countries. There is nothing new that DK did. It is a practice that has always been overlooked, and for good reason. The act may have broken the letter of the minimum wage law, but by no means did it break the spirit of the law, since that law is intended to give a modicum of living standard to minimum wage earners - Sangita richards was living a much mor comfortable life than any minimum wage earner.

And to reiterate, every Indian consul or diplomat has done the same thing. Just like American diplomats have screened films on Indian soil without passing it through the censor board, and the spouses of American diplomats and consuls have taught in missionary schools in India without a work permit, and other such inconsequential "crimes".

This part simply won't fly.

This was the third violation by Indian diplomats in three years and the authorities had specifically notified the Indian diplomats about these violations, including Khobragade's crimes. The Indian Mission evidently decided to ignore those notices of criminal conduct.

 

[Jade]

Is she going back to the US since her husband works there?

She can go to US whenever she wants. She enjoys diplomatic immunity.

 

[cyphercide]

How could she leave without immunity?
The move to the Indian permanent mission was part of the sequence needed to get her immunity from the US State dept.
Everything was worked out in advance.
The State dept. was only waiting for the media storm to cool so she could be "smuggled" out without fuss..

It was revealed she did have full immunity(which was missed by US authorities and India as well) well before the incident transpired. In addition, she was already accepted by the UN permanent mission. She could have returned much sooner had India willed, there was no reason to stick around till there were merely days before the case proceeded. My guess would be that she(India by extension) was trying to secure a deal which in all probability fell through.

 

[Developereo]

Course that's coz of the generosity of the USA right?

The key word here is not generosity, but pragmatism. Machiavellian pragmatism.

As answered in my next post, that is written in the vienna conventions regarding consuls. And the Indian media is not claiming she had full immunity, it has always been stressed that she had partial immunity - and that too means something. For instance, only arresting after the trial.

Yes, they can conduct a trial without formally arresting her, because she is not a flight risk. In such cases, she is expected to live in the embassy until the trial is over (which the Italian marines are doing, BTW - how are we trying them without jailing them?). After the trial is over, and only if she is found guilty should she be arrested or housed in a prison.

We are not talking about putting her in jail for the duration of the trial. Clearly, the prosecutors never had that intention.

Her apprehension was done for a specific purpose -- to get her statement -- and then she was let go.

 

[janon]

The Americans maintain that everything was according to protocol, given her level of immunity at the time.



This part simply won't fly.

This was the third violation by Indian diplomats in three years and the authorities had specifically notified the Indian diplomats about these violations, including Khobragade's crimes. The Indian Mission evidently decided to ignore those notices of criminal conduct.

Well yes, the Americans would say that, wouldn't they? Otherwise they would be faced with the unpleasant prospect of admitting a mistake. The vienna conventions on consular relations are clear on that aspect.

The second part - do you have a source for that? That DK's violations were notified before to India, and no action was taken? If that is true, I will admit that the Indian ministry of external affairs has a lot to answer for. It still does not excuse the violation of protocol, but the biggest wrong would have to be placed on the ministry's door, for not clarifying the practice or seeking formal exemption.

 

[Developereo]

It was revealed she did have full immunity(which was missed by US authorities and India as well) well before the incident transpired. In addition, she was already accepted by the UN permanent mission. She could have returned much sooner had India willed, there was no reason to stick around till there were merely days before the case proceeded. My guess would be that she(India by extension) was trying to secure a deal which in all probability fell through.

She couldn't leave until the US State dept. granted her the specific visa validating her immunity.

The timing of her departure was decided by the US State dept. not India.

 

[janon]

She can go to US whenever she wants. She enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Impossible that she would be given a visa if she goes on a diplomatic passport. Diplomatic immunity is agreed to by both countries, and the US won't agree to give her that in future.

 

[Jade]

I am wondering how will be the future relations between Bhrara and State department. He caught them pants down

Any US member can throw light on DA's appointments and removals. I am just wondering

Preet Bharara is a bigshot already. He is pursuing white-collar crime on Wall Street and Wall Street is on back foot

 

[Sergi]

Her apprehension was done for a specific purpose -- to get her statement -- and then she was let go.

She was released on thousands of dollar bail !!!! And not simple let go

Preet Bharara is a bigshot already. He is pursuing white-collar crime on Wall Street and Wall Street is on back foot

I know that. I asked something different.
More specifically the information about the "Job" DA than a person.

 

[Jade]

Impossible that she would be given a visa if she goes on a diplomatic passport. Diplomatic immunity is agreed to by both countries, and the US won't agree to give her that in future.

US never said they would not give her visa. They said they would not prosecute her until the time she enjoys diplomatic immunity, meaning a long long time.

 

[janon]

US never said they would not give her visa. They said they would not prosecute her until the time she enjoys diplomatic immunity, meaning a long long time.

The point is that if she has to go back to the US, that country will have to give her a visa. If she applies on a diplomatic passport, the will not let her in. In other words, they won't let her in as a diplomat anymore.

 

[Jade]

She was released on thousands of dollar bail !!!! And not simple let go


I know that. I asked something different.
More specifically the information about the "Job" DA than a person.

State department is already backing him and has given him a clean chit.

His ego might have got hurt, but he has confronted a wrong country.

 

[cyphercide]

She couldn't leave until the US State dept. granted her the specific visa validating her immunity.

The timing of her departure was decided by the US State dept. not India.

I wasn't disputing that. I was disputing your contention that India exactly knew what it was doing and the State Department was "in on the act." In reality, India exhausted all options, even appealing to the US courts for an extension before flying her out when that too was dismissed. It hardly sounds like a pre-planned move to me.

 

[Developereo]

The second part - do you have a source for that? That DK's violations were notified before to India, and no action was taken?

Decoding the Devyani Khobragade controversy: How a row over a maid's visa sparked a full-scale diplomatic incident | Mail Online

The United States had informed the Indian Government about the allegations against Devyani Khobragade, the Deputy Consul General in New York, over three months prior to her arrest last week.

A State Department official told Mail Today: "To confirm, the State Department notified the Indian Embassy in writing on September 4. The Department of State advised the Embassy of the Republic of India of allegations of abuse made by an Indian national against the Deputy Consul General of India in New York."