The more Rio presses this, the worse they look. Has the perception of any host city gone down nearly as much as Rio did during the Olympics? Raw sewage, corruption, robberies, random body parts in various places around the courses, and now this kangaroo court. Lochte sounds like he was so wasted he probably doesn’t accurately remember 1/10th of what happened at the gas station. Some of his tale was embellishment, but some was what he believed happened.
I have no doubt that Lochte did vandalize the gas station, but the way it was all handled had made me never want to go anywhere near Brazil. I’m sure if he did go back, Rio would look at it as a way to crucify him and extract as much “charitable donations” as they could.
I read another article that the security guard at the gas station may have actually been an off-duty cop, so the badge may have been an actual police badge. And the locals knew something was off, not because of what the guard did to Lochte, but because it was in a wealthy neighborhood where that stuff typically doesn’t happen. In other neighborhoods, shakedowns by the police are normal.
For the sake of Rio, Lochte should never go back. The sooner Rio drops this, the better off they’ll be.
An interesting but very quick look at the extradition treaty in place with Brazil Their look is that this probably doesn’t fit as an extraditable offense under the current US-Brazil treaty. More interesting is the fact that Brazil, as a member of Interpol, could seek a RED notice that is as close as there is to an international warrant. That raises the possibility of being arrested and extradited from another country with different treaty stipulations.
It’s hard to be competitive in international swimming competitions if you are constrained from traveling international.
The technical details of Brazilian criminal law don’t matter here. What we know is that Lochte didn’t come out with a story about how they were robbed after they pissed all over a wall and tore down a poster. He was covering up that part of it, a clear indication of guilty conscience or an asshole. Now if you want to believe some guy who says “all of a sudden these guys with guns ordered me down on the floor and took all my money” and he leaves out the part about how he just robbed a bank, well fine, you’d probably like Lochte.
I started reading the latest reports and it’s looking more and more that Lochte wasn’t entirely in the wrong. It’s easy to see how he mistook security guards for police, considering his drunken condition. From his view point he was approached in a cab, ordered out, and told to hand over money. It’s on the security tape.
He’s still an egotistical jerk. But there’s enough uncertainty here that Brazil should just drop the case. Pursing it will just make them look petty and vindictive. It’s already clear from security footage that authorities have lied too about the bathroom getting trashed.
Ordinarily I’d say get a lawyer and fight this. But, it’s political now and in a country with a uncertain legal system. Evidence can change. Witnesses may suddenly appear. I’m not sure Lochte would get a fair trial.
If Brazil has not filed extradition papers but merely requested he return, then IMO that’s a question for him and his business manager to discus. Someone up thread mentioned that it might somehow work to restore his reputation and brand value. I don’t know enough about that to say whether it would, but it’s worth consideration.
If Brazil feels strongly enough to file papers to force him to return, he should go, even if the US rejects the request. My feeling is that if he doesn’t, whatever future he may have in his sport is finished. He might be subject to extradition demands in whatever country he travels to for competitions,
you know its telling that 4 years ago when he first became famous e! entertainment gave a wish fulfillment reality show that lasted 4 episodes and that one of the producers (who was also on the various Kardashian shows )said " he was about as smart as a box of rocks " and "he made kim and khole look like mensa members "
It’s been reported in various media stories that there is no penalty for not answering a summons such as Lochte received by returning to Brazil in person. One can hire a lawyer to represent them, but cannot reach a plea agreement, ie it has to go to a judge, and their testimony in their own defense can’t be heard.
If, speculating about the future course of the case, they slap him with a fine so big he’s hesitant to pay, or especially if they hand down a jail sentence he refuses to return and serve, then maybe there would be a chance of legal trouble in a third country in the future, though presumably remote for such a minor matter. And in general extradition treaties weigh in favor of defendants where the country asking is acting on political motives, which the Brazilians obviously would be (already pretty obviously are) to try to extend the incident years into the future, treating the ‘crime’ specially because it embarrassed Brazil.
If one were actually in this situation it would be imperative to get good legal advice, but practically speaking Lochte would have to be a bigger idiot than he already proved himself in the incident itself to go back to Brazil.
If Brazil had just let them go then the offended dignity at the hands of an ugly American pose would have been PR gold for them. But no, they had to go and do the petty (negotiated) money grab with the other swimmer over his passport, then try to grab the other other two swimmers for the same squeeze and just missed them leaving. Now they want Lochte to come back for a show trial.
This chest beating nonsense is kind of squandering whatever sympathy they had acquired on the front end of this squalid bit of oafish misbehavior and lying by Lochte.
I hate to tell you this, but we don’t “put” people in jail. People “earn” their place in jail. They are apprehended by the police or other arresting agency, and notified of the charges against them. They are allowed to obtain counsel, even at times bail, before the proceedings begin. Then they are tried before a jury of their peers, all this happening in a public venue. If convicted, they are given a chance to argue for a lesser sentence. A judge reviews the facts and pronounces judgment and then, and only then, are they sent off to prison to serve their sentence. We never stick a gun in their ribs and tell them to hand over their wallet (or their money), and we don’t forget the matter happened if we put enough money in some judges pocket. Nope, at least in theory, everyone is treated the same when they are suspected of committing a crime.
Brazil’s government revenue in 2014 was $876,500 million-- which places them just below the UK and just above Canada. I don’t think they are seriously looking at “shaking down Olympians” as a possible revenue stream.
…I hate to tell you this: but but extraordinary rendition is a unambiguous violation of international law and it is a practice that is almost exclusively the domain of the United States. The US kidnaps people off the streets of foreign countries, don’t allow them to obtain counsel, don’t allow them to seek bail, and some never experience any sort of proceedings before being shipped off to some country to get tortured. They aren’t tried in front of a jury of their peers and that doesn’t happen in a public venue. A judge doesn’t review the facts and a judge does not pronounce judgement on them.
You do much more than stick a gun in the ribs. You stick a gun at their foreheads and demand they give you information. You smear fake menstrual blood on their faces. You torture people and call it “enhanced interrogation techniques”
So please: spare me the tears. If you think that “Lochte was a victim of robbery” then take a moment to look at what has been done in the name of the people of the United States since The War Against Terror began. If Lochte doesn’t want to be subject to the local laws and customs of another country then tell him to stay the fuck at home.
All of the above is non sequitur, but here’s an important point you seem to be missing. Lochte is an American, a citizen of the best and baddest country the world has ever known. He doesn’t have to do anything those peasants want him to do. You’re making the mistake of thinking the US has parity with the rest of the world. That’s not how this works. How this works is the US does what it wants, and Brazil can kiss its freedom-loving ass.
“Should Lochte return to Brazil?” :smack: Does a king take orders from a peasant?