can australian police arrest you?

[Guest taylorsquare]

PAGE 5,THE DAILY TELEGRAPH,FRIDAY MARCH 05,SYDNEY,AUSTRALIA

 

 

RAIDS IN SYDNEY AND THAILAND HAVE ENDED IN 3 AUSTRALIAN MEN BEING ARRESTED YESTERDAY BY AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE.

THE MEN ARE ALLEGED TO BE PART OF A PAEDOPHILE NETWORK INVOLVING YOUNG BOYS .

A 23YO MAN AND A 40YO MAN WERE ARRESTED IN SYDNEYS NORTHERN SUBURBS AND A THIRD MAN IN THAILAND.

 

PLAIN CLOTHES AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE SWOOPED ON A 68YO AUSTRALIAN MAN YESTERDAY IN PATTAYA IN THAILAND.

THE 68YO,BELIEVED TO BE LIVING IN THAILAND AND A LONG TERM RESIDENT COLLASPED AS HE WAS ARRESTED AND HAD TO BE TAKEN TO PATTAYA HOSPITAL IN THAILAND BEFORE BEING CHARGED.

THE AFP WILL ALLEGE THE THREE AUSTRALIAN MEN MOLESTED CHILDREN WHILST TRAVELLING OVERSEAS TO PATTAYA,THAILAND.

THE DRAMATIC ARRESTS UNDERLINE THE COOPERATION BETWEEN COUNTRIES AND FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES IN THEIR BID TO TRACK PAEDOPHILES TRAVELLING TO THAILAND.

 

[Guest taylorsquare]

Obviously im not sure what evidence or the reasons behind the Pattaya australians arrest,however if he is guilty then i fully support the actions of the Australian Police.

However,where do we draw a line ?

Will they be targeting aussies not wearing helmets next?

How about they look after their own country first.

 

I truly hope they are not targeting gay people travelling to Thailand.

Unfortanetely,paedophiles abusing as was alleged in this case boys,can be lumped in the same catorgory as honest gay guys.

Im not sure what evidence the police have on these three men ,but let me tell you that im glad the media did not mention the word gay in the article.

[mahjongguy]

Just to address the Subject line, no, foreign police cannot arrest anyone here. Despite the wording of the article, you can be assured that there was at least one Thai officer present to slap on the cuffs.

[Gaybutton]

foreign police cannot arrest anyone here.

That is correct. Thailand does not permit police agencies of foreign countries to come in and act unilaterally. I know of no country that does. The Australian police would have had to act in conjunction with Thai police, and I'll bet as far as physically arresting anyone was concerned, their capacity was nothing beyond being observers.

[Guest taylorsquare]

Here is a link to the Sydney s number 1 talkback radio station,interview with federal police commissioner.

Listen to the interview and take note he says he will be targeting all australians making regualar trips to pattaya.

you may find the sydney shockjocks accent hard to understand.

http://www.2gb.com.au/index2.php?option=co...iew&id=3111

 

One wonders if innocent people will be brought before the slaughter.

 

 

[KhorTose]

One wonders if innocent people will be brought before the slaughter.

I listened to the interview and read your post. I do not understand your anxiety. The victims were described as children, young boys, young children, and minors. Gay was never mentioned at all, and the commissioner sounded very reasonable. It seems to me that unless you sleep with minors under 18, you will have nothing to fear. It sure doesn't sound like any kind of witch hunt to arrest gays having sex with 18+ to me.

[Guest laurence]

I did listen to the interview and got the impression that the message to all guys( meaning gays) traveling to Thailand from Australia is that you are under scrutiny. Maybe as a scare tactic, a waring, or a public service announcement. Perhaps in the same manner that people are put on notice who may want to smuggle drugs? Of course you will never hear a public authority say it is ok to travel abroad as a "sex tourist" as long as you engage only with 18+.

 

Even in my circle of gay friends the concept of traveling abroad for "pleasure" is an alien concept which they scorn. The general public must hold an even lower opinion of such travel especially if you are gay.

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

_____

 

Tourists Suspected of Underage Sex Crimes

 

Thai, Australian Police Work to Make Arrests

 

By: WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM and AFP

Published: 21/03/2009

 

Thai and Australian police have arrested three men accused of sexual offences against Thai minors while on holiday here in a joint operation.

 

Under the joint operation codenamed "Hercules", Australian Richard Jeremy Morrush and Italian David Costa Ruggero, both 60, were arrested yesterday in Pattaya, Chon Buri province.

 

The third suspect, another Australian identified as David Anthony Hadson, 41, was arrested in Australia.

 

The suspects were charged with plotting to lure boys under 15 to have sex with them and with the physical or psychological abuse of their victims.

 

The three came to Thailand as tourists in 2007 and went to Pattaya where they committed sexual offences against three 14-year-old boys, police alleged.

 

Police also alleged that Mr Morrush committed similar crimes in Australia before he came to Thailand.

 

Mr Ruggero was arrested by Thai police in 2007 on similar charges. He was released on bail and the case is pending in court, police said.

 

Both Mr Morrush and Mr Ruggero denied all the charges and remained tight-lipped yesterday, said Pol Col Suwipol Imjairat, deputy chief of the Crime Against Children, Juveniles and Women Suppression Division.

 

Mr Morrush fainted during his arrest and had to be sent to the Police General Hospital, the officer added. Police are checking a computer laptop seized from Mr Morrush to see if it contained any illegal images.

 

Police began looking into the case involving the three foreigners after they were informed by the Australian Federal Police that suspects in sex crimes they were investigating had travelled to Thailand.

 

The Australian police said yesterday the three were charged with child sex tourism, child sex abuse and child pornography offences.

 

Britain's child exploitation and online protection centre also assisted with the investigation, they added.

 

The Australian Federal Police "will not tolerate any form of child abuse in Australia or anywhere in the world, and will continue to work with local and overseas counterparts to arrest those behind child exploitation", said spokesman David Stewart.

 

Last year, officers arrested four foreigners accused of similar offences in Thailand. They were middle-aged men from England, the US and Germany.

 

Meanwhile, at the Southeast Asia Conference on Child Sex Tourism in Indonesia yesterday, Southeast Asian nations were urged to do more to tackle child sex tourism as the global economic crisis has exposed more young people to exploitation.

 

"The current economic crisis will increase children's vulnerability to sex tourism," participants from governments, aid groups and corporations said.

 

"Poverty remains a root cause of child sex tourism. Other factors include limited access to education, gender relations, and weak law enforcement capacity," the conference said in a resolution.

 

Asean governments should "enforce legislation to prosecute child sex offenders and where relevant collaborate regionally and internationally to ensure successful prosecution", it said.

 

The three-day conference heard earlier that more than 70,000 children across Asia were victims of child sex tourism and that children living in areas exposed to natural disasters, particularly orphans, were at increased risk of abuse.The conference is being held on the Indonesian island of Bali and has attracted participants from 17 countries including Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.