There’s almost no border control in Switzerland. I once entered the country without having to show a passport to anyone (a connecting flight to De Gaulle, so by the time I hit Zürich, I looked like an “internal Schengen” traveler, even though I hadn’t gone through border control in France).
What’s laughable is the notion that you could hide out in Switzerland, safe from extradition. It ain’t like their banking system, boys and girls. You might be able to hide your ill-gotten booty there, but hiding yourself there would be damn near impossible.
I do not normally stand up for fifteen year olds, but that is so wrong. The GOP fill the spoiled thirteen year old profile better. Look at Jordan or Gaetz. You can readily imagine them snickering over girls around the lunch table.
The crazy ones may not ever get there, but hopefully, they’ll have a chance to think about it in jail. It depends what the voices in their heads say to them.
Had a different experience, was entering europe via switzerland and got grilled over whether or not I was participating in the film festival at my non-swiss destination city. Guess I dressed too stylishly and they wanted me to buy a work visa.
But yeah, getting into switzerland on a tourist visa is easy. Staying past the 90th day is the tricky part.
Oh yeah. I was thinking that the Air Force guy who joined the Boogaloos and killed those policemen is only going to get reinforcement of those beliefs in prison. Of course, I’m not sure he’ll be getting out any time soon.
The top countries whose citizens are banned by other countries are the UK, Brazil and South Africa (because of the variants). Surprisingly, Americans do seem able to travel to more countries than you would expect, though they generally require a negative COVID-19 test and 7-14 day quarantine on arrival. Though you are correct, the list of countries both “accepting Americans” and “does not have an extradition treaty” is likely very small.
Don’t know how Marc Rich was able avoid it. Even with an extradition treaty, it is possible to drag out the process for years (or until you get a pardon in Rich’s case) if you have the means. Maybe he was able to keep it tied up in the Swiss courts?
His wikipedia page mentions him narrowly escaping arrest in britain, finland, and spain. So maybe he hopped around a bit between 1997 and buying his pardon.
it is possible to drag out the process for years (or until you get a pardon in Rich’s case) if you have the means.
One Dmytro Firtash has been holed up in Vienna since 2014 (the US wants him).
I began to wonder about this guy just from the headline. If you’re escaping from a Wehrmacht prison camp then sure, neutral Switzerland makes sense. In this case no, not so much, since we’ve had bilateral extradition treaties with them for ages now.
At any rate, no matter what you think of this guy, it’s probably best for everyone including himself that he’s now, as they say, “in the system.” He doesn’t seem to do well making his own decisions.
I watched the PBS Frontline episode on the insurrection last night. My general impression of the, uh, participants who were interviewed was that they are a bunch of whiny, chronic complainers who think they shouldn’t be bound by the social contract that the rest of us have tacitly agreed to (by which I mean, obeying the law and just not being an asshole). IOW, they want to enjoy the benefits of a civil society, but not have to pay for those benefits.
To be clear, there are people who are paying for but not enjoying those same benefits, but these people are not they. That is another story.
Many of them struck me as being pretty stupid, and generally racist. But those are not mental illnesses.
IANAP, but maybe for the next DSM, they should look at something like “Credulity Syndrome,” the ability to enter a delusional state by means of absorbing and accepting disinformation as true. Because it does seem like there is something there that could be diagnosed and treated for a significant sub-population. We can see that this guy and others are having paranoia and panic attacks associated with their delusions and while their conditions don’t probably fit under any currently defined illnesses*, there are enough cases that I think it ought to be studied in some capacity, at any rate.
