NY US attorney: Indian diplomat treated very well

[Jesus Malverde]

A federal prosecutor ventured into the tense relationship between the U.S. and India on Wednesday, defending the arrest and strip-search of an Indian diplomat held on visa charges and saying she was treated very well, even given coffee and offered food while detained.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who made the highly unusual move of issuing a lengthy statement addressing the arrest and issues not in a criminal complaint, said diplomat Devyani Khobragade was afford courtesies most Americans wouldn't get — such as being allowed to make phone calls for two hours to arrange child care and sort out personal matters — after she was discretely arrested by U.S. Department of State agents outside her children's Manhattan school.

Khobragade was arrested last week on charges she lied on a visa application about how much she paid her housekeeper, an Indian national. Prosecutors say the maid received less than $3 per hour for her work.

Bharara said Khobragade, who has pleaded not guilty, wasn't handcuffed, restrained or arrested in front of her children. And he said that while she was "fully searched" in private by a female deputy marshal, the move was a standard safety practice all defendants undergo.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/NY-US-attorney-Indian-diplomat-treated-very-well-5073891.php

[Starry Messenger]

1. Pretty low-key considering she's been human trafficking.

No pity here.

[Jesus Malverde]

2. the offense carries 10 years.

Slave trafficking and visa fraud is very serious.

[Starry Messenger]

3. Yes, I know.

It is very serious. I've been stunned all day that India decided to blow this up into a major international incident over her rather mild handling over this.

It's not like it hasn't happened before either. There have been other such cases in the US.

[JI7]

7. i'm not really surprised, it's like when republicans were "outraged" over closed ww2 memorials

and similar things during the govt shut down but cared nothing about those who would not get paid and had to worry about getting bills paid.

the outrage is mostly phony , opportunistic, the whole wanting to be seen as a victim.

it's so horrible that SHE was searched. but it's ok for her to treat that woman as a slave.

there have been many cases in india of these govt corrupt types abusing domestic workers who are pretty much slaves.

[davidpdx]

4. I don't think her treatment is near as bad as she's alleging

I think a pat-down would have been sufficient. A strip-search is over the top I agree. She also could have been confined to her home instead of being put in jail. I think enough witnesses will come forward to shatter her credibility about how she was treated. The nanny is also being made to look like a criminal by India, which in my opinion isn't right.

[Vattel]

5. That prosecutor is a fool if he thinks a strip search is consistent with treating someone very well.

As Breyer (joined by Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor) said in his dissent in Florence (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-945.pdf), "Even when carried out in a respectful manner, and even absent any physical touching, . . . such searches are inherently harmful, humiliating, and degrading." There should never be a strip search without reasonable suspicion that the person searched is hiding contraband or a weapon.

[idwiyo]

6. +1

[JI7]

8. i hope Bharara runs for political office some day

[Pretzel_Warrior]

9. I can't believe the people on this thread siding with the lawbreaking woman

The whole "coddling criminals" stereotype of liberals comes into play.