More on the diplomat, the maid, the DA, and the State Department

goodcitizn wrote:Thanks, Indo, for the link. The federal case is well documented. She did not have diplomatic immunity as the Indian media claims but only limited immunity pertaining to matters performed in her official capacity. Getting a maid for personal convenience is not protected by diplomatic immunity.

If you or I were to bring a maid from India with falsified documents and got arrested would there be such a ruckus from India? Burning of Obama effigies? No. Why should she be treated like the princess with India calling her a victim? Besides she used the Richard woman as a housekeeper 24/7 without any day off during her tenure and refused to allow her to return to India. Who is the real victim here?

confuzzled dude wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:Thanks, Indo, for the link. The federal case is well documented. She did not have diplomatic immunity as the Indian media claims but only limited immunity pertaining to matters performed in her official capacity. Getting a maid for personal convenience is not protected by diplomatic immunity.

If you or I were to bring a maid from India with falsified documents and got arrested would there be such a ruckus from India? Burning of Obama effigies? No. Why should she be treated like the princess with India calling her a victim? Besides she used the Richard woman as a housekeeper 24/7 without any day off during her tenure and refused to allow her to return to India. Who is the real victim here?

GC, you should read up bit on this than repeating the same over and over. Initially, I thought DK sponsored maid as other private citizens do but that is not the case. Maid was issued an official passport (not civilian) and GoI pays for her health insurance, airfare etc., I'm afraid you are exaggerating about maid's work schedule & mistreatment, apparently she wanted to work 2nd job on weekends to make extra dough, that was the root for all of this.

goodcitizn wrote:
I think you are like a stick in the mud and don't want to consider the other side of the argument. I only described what was in the complaint about her workload and treatment. There is no exaggeration on my part. You ignore the fact that hundreds of Indian workers would love to have the opportunity to come to the U.S. and use that visa to find better jobs later on. That is one thing. Secondly if she was paid pittance (as against what she was supposed to earn per the documents) compared to the cost of living here and did her work for 40 hours/week and wanted a part time job to earn extra money to eke out a living what's the problem? If GoI paid for her insurance, airfare etc. did it also pay for her wages under false pretences? So who is the culprit here, Devyani or GoI?

confuzzled dude wrote:

goodcitizn wrote:
I think you are like a stick in the mud and don't want to consider the other side of the argument. I only described what was in the complaint about her workload and treatment. There is no exaggeration on my part. You ignore the fact that hundreds of Indian workers would love to have the opportunity to come to the U.S. and use that visa to find better jobs later on. That is one thing. Secondly if she was paid pittance (as against what she was supposed to earn per the documents) compared to the cost of living here and did her work for 40 hours/week and wanted a part time job to earn extra money to eke out a living what's the problem? If GoI paid for her insurance, airfare etc. did it also pay for her wages under false pretences? So who is the culprit here, Devyani or GoI?

I'm afraid you're the one totally being tunnel visioned, just parroting "falsified documents" without taking other facts into consideration e.g. Maid was trying to extort money, she is very smart used both Indian & US systems to her advantage accomplish her goals. You seem to have no regard to what GoI is saying.

No one is suggesting that Devyani is innocent, folks are only objecting to the treatment meted out by USMS. Like I said earlier in another thread this is much bigger than Devyani & Sangeeta, a tussle between two governments.

indophile wrote:Today's Washington Post story.

Many holes remain in the chronology of events leading up to the arrest, and numerous facts — including the level of diplomatic immunity afforded by Khobragade’s consular status — are in dispute among India, the United States and the parties involved.
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-dispute-over-indian-diplomat-an-internal-us-rift-and-many-unanswered-questions/2013/12/19/0a84f21c-68dd-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html?hpid=z4

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

indophile wrote:Today's Washington Post story.

Many holes remain in the chronology of events leading up to the arrest, and numerous facts — including the level of diplomatic immunity afforded by Khobragade’s consular status — are in dispute among India, the United States and the parties involved.
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-dispute-over-indian-diplomat-an-internal-us-rift-and-many-unanswered-questions/2013/12/19/0a84f21c-68dd-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html?hpid=z4

Here is a Gringo making a sensible comment - much like what I have been saying (this many biggies dont get involved in a simple case like that involving a high level diplomat - unless there is something else going on)

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jfschumaker
1:37 PM CST
I'm not sure we know all the facts here. Davyani Khobragade was initially treated respectfully by the DS officers who arrested her, but this does not appear to be the case after she was handed over to U.S. Marshals. The U.S. attorney in New York, Preet Bharara, issued a long statement Wednesday, but he was vague and evasive when he talked about how she was treated by the U.S. Marshals service, noting only that she was "fully searched'' by a female deputy marshal in private and called it standard procedure for "every defendant, rich or poor, American or not." In other words, she was most likely handcuffed, strip searched (which usually includes a cavity search), swabbed for DNA and put into a cell with other female prisoners. Looking at Bharara's arrest records, it would seem that he has political ambitions and likes going after rich and highly placed Indians. I think there is a lot more that is going to come out, and a lot of it will not reflect well on him. At a minimum, nobody in New York thought about what might happen to American diplomats in India if Khobragade was mistreated. This is not a simple law enforcement case, as Bharara would have us believe.
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Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

indophile wrote:Today's Washington Post story.

Many holes remain in the chronology of events leading up to the arrest, and numerous facts — including the level of diplomatic immunity afforded by Khobragade’s consular status — are in dispute among India, the United States and the parties involved.
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-dispute-over-indian-diplomat-an-internal-us-rift-and-many-unanswered-questions/2013/12/19/0a84f21c-68dd-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html?hpid=z4

Here is a Gringo making a sensible comment - much like what I have been saying (this many biggies dont get involved in a simple case like that involving a high level diplomat - unless there is something else going on)

*************
jfschumaker
1:37 PM CST
I'm not sure we know all the facts here. Davyani Khobragade was initially treated respectfully by the DS officers who arrested her, but this does not appear to be the case after she was handed over to U.S. Marshals. The U.S. attorney in New York, Preet Bharara, issued a long statement Wednesday, but he was vague and evasive when he talked about how she was treated by the U.S. Marshals service, noting only that she was "fully searched'' by a female deputy marshal in private and called it standard procedure for "every defendant, rich or poor, American or not." In other words, she was most likely handcuffed, strip searched (which usually includes a cavity search), swabbed for DNA and put into a cell with other female prisoners. Looking at Bharara's arrest records, it would seem that he has political ambitions and likes going after rich and highly placed Indians. I think there is a lot more that is going to come out, and a lot of it will not reflect well on him. At a minimum, nobody in New York thought about what might happen to American diplomats in India if Khobragade was mistreated. This is not a simple law enforcement case, as Bharara would have us believe.
*********

confuzzled dude wrote:

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

indophile wrote:Today's Washington Post story.

Many holes remain in the chronology of events leading up to the arrest, and numerous facts — including the level of diplomatic immunity afforded by Khobragade’s consular status — are in dispute among India, the United States and the parties involved.
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-dispute-over-indian-diplomat-an-internal-us-rift-and-many-unanswered-questions/2013/12/19/0a84f21c-68dd-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html?hpid=z4

Here is a Gringo making a sensible comment - much like what I have been saying (this many biggies dont get involved in a simple case like that involving a high level diplomat - unless there is something else going on)

*************
jfschumaker
1:37 PM CST
I'm not sure we know all the facts here. Davyani Khobragade was initially treated respectfully by the DS officers who arrested her, but this does not appear to be the case after she was handed over to U.S. Marshals. The U.S. attorney in New York, Preet Bharara, issued a long statement Wednesday, but he was vague and evasive when he talked about how she was treated by the U.S. Marshals service, noting only that she was "fully searched'' by a female deputy marshal in private and called it standard procedure for "every defendant, rich or poor, American or not." In other words, she was most likely handcuffed, strip searched (which usually includes a cavity search), swabbed for DNA and put into a cell with other female prisoners. Looking at Bharara's arrest records, it would seem that he has political ambitions and likes going after rich and highly placed Indians. I think there is a lot more that is going to come out, and a lot of it will not reflect well on him. At a minimum, nobody in New York thought about what might happen to American diplomats in India if Khobragade was mistreated. This is not a simple law enforcement case, as Bharara would have us believe.
*********

Here is another one from WaPo comments section, many Americans are getting it now

"Matt Karj
7:21 PM EST
Oh, the maid must be salivating for the $$ and the green card... pretty sure. At least she was clever enough to not travel to Nicaragua from India and cross the Mexican border into the US (as many morons do). She was smart to use the American legal system (which pretty much goes by the letter of the law alone) and the ambitious US attorney to her own advantage. Witness protection and asylum on a gold platter ! Probably the best Christmas for the maid."

Kris wrote:
>>Everyone is playing everyone else in this fiasco. I thought Bharara was vague as well on what happened when the USMC took over, but that can't be helped since that is outside his purview. In a sense, that is likely what is going to blow this case for him. Legalities aside, strip searching an ally's diplomat is a recipe for diplomatic disaster and India's elevating this is entirely justified on those grounds, immunity or no immunity. However, that is going to crowd out whatever valid basis there is for the prosecution. There are no saints in this. I don't think she is innocent of everything, any more than I think Preet Bharara has no political agenda. One thing is for certain though: Bharara bit off more than he can chew, since diplomacy trumps legality when you are dealing with partners who add value economically and strategically.

Longhornzfan
8:46 PM EST
To put it simply ...

A fraudster Indian officer mistreats a blackmailer Indian maid and gets procecuted by an ambitious Indian (born) procecutor and Indians blame the Americans for the fiasco )