Journalists Facing Prosecution for Using Drones in Myanmar

Singaporean freelance camera man Lau Hon Meng and Malaysian documentary producer Mok Choy Lin were sentenced to two months in jail for using a drone, breaching Myanmar’s Aircraft Act, details The Strait Times.

Persons victimized by a breach of contract in Thailand should seek attorneys with contract and litigation experience, court disputes between Thai and foreign entities may potentially be heard by the Court of Intellectual Property and International Trade Law.

Although, Myanmar technically doesn’t have any specific legislation outlawing the use of drones, authorities do not like them over their territories. They are being charged with violating the Export and Import law. Those who export/import prohibited goods can be fined and jailed up to three years.

On top of the drone charges, immigration officials are also trying to charge the pair and their two interpreters for violating the 1947 Immigration Act. Under this Act, individuals who remain in the country after the infringement of rules can be fined and jailed up to five years.

Lau and Mok’s defense attorneys are currently working on getting the export and import charges dismissed.

Read the full story here

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Immigration Act

Image: Andrew Turner

National Security Versus Privacy Rights: FBI Facial Recognition System Fully Operational in U.S.

The FBI's biometric database system is fully operational and will be activated across the United States, according to Activist Post.

The FBI announced the launch of the Next Generation Identification system (NGI) on September 15, 2014. According to Activist Post, the NGI includes advanced finger printing technologies, facial recognition, and iris scans "that are collated into a central database for real-time sharing at all levels of law enforcement and government agencies."

Though the FBI states in its press release that the NGI is an “investigative tool" to help identify criminals via photo matching, Activist Post speculates that there is nothing to stop the FBI from cataloging the entire U.S. population.

Catching criminals often involves crossing national borders, though, and privacy concerns extend beyond the U.S. which has extradition treaties with over 100 nations. The NGI has already been used in at least one international case involving a U.S. fugitive who was hiding out in Nepal, reports Activist Post.

Though NGI is not currently known to be in use in Thailand, Thailand international airports already photograph all persons entering and exiting the Kingdom. Additionally, Thailand law enforcement agencies have had a robust relationship with U.S. law enforcement agencies for decades. Currently, Thailand is home to an FBI-sponsored international law enforcement academy. In the past 30 years under the Thailand-USA Extradition Treaty, 135 fugitives have been extradited from Thailand to the U.S.

These facts illustrate how easily the NGI could be initiated, not only in Thailand, but in other nations around the world.   

Read the full FBI biometric database story here.

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Related Documents:
Thailand-USA Extradition Treaty
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