Thread: NZ asks US embassy staffer to leave

The US embassy in New Zealand has refused to waive diplomatic immunity for one of its staff members New Zealand police want to question.


An incident involving a diplomat from the US embassy was brought to the attention of New Zealand police on Sunday, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman says.


MFAT was asked by police on Monday to request a waiver of immunity from the US to enable police to undertake investigations, and did so that day.


The US government has on Friday declined to waive the diplomat's immunity.
Therefore, MFAT has asked the US to withdraw the staff member in question from New Zealand.


Police were called to an address in Lower Hutt but the man, who works at the embassy in Wellington as a technical attache, had left, apparently nursing a broken nose and a black eye, One News reports.


A US government spokesman says as a matter of policy "we do not comment on the specifics of matters under investigation".


"We take seriously any suggestion that our staff have fallen short of the high standards of conduct expected of US government personnel.


''Any allegations of wrongdoing are always fully investigated."
The spokesman says the US is communicating with New Zealand authorities.


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Would that be the same "High standard of conduct" that I recently read about by the navy admirals ?

"We take seriously any suggestion that our staff have fallen short of the high standards of conduct expected of US government personnel".

Presumably that does not include losing a fight.

Be nice to know what occurred.

We'll he's an Alabama boy in a country with a significant ethnic minority if that helps.

And married, if that helps too.

Probably a Trumpster and part of the nutcase syndrome. Good on New Zealand for not putting up with it.

Probably protected by extended diplomatic immunity anyway.......which is a highly daft [international] legal precedence.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Probably protected by extended diplomatic immunity anyway.......which is a highly daft [international] legal precedence.

I can only assume that you're fucking joking Jeff.

It's a much needed diplomatic tool with some of the crazies in charge these days.

Despite the lust to bash America, any discussion is superfluous until the nature of his alleged offense is defined. Diplomatic immunity can be waived, depending on the severity of the alleged offense. In this case it wasn't, leading me to believe that the USG failed to deem the alleged offense as particularly serious. Unlike most countries, the US will throw a staffer with immunity under the bus in a heartbeat if the offense is serious. TD's lynch mob will just have to wait. The US won't comment; perhaps the Kiwis will explain further.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

We'll he's an Alabama boy in a country with a significant ethnic minority if that helps.

And married, if that helps too.

So, was he sprung having it off with a Maori ?

Then there is the other way to look at it.

If he had done no wrong then there would be no need for diplomatic immunity and it would be better if he and the embassy cooperated with the police to prove his innocence.

If a proper investigation can not be carried out because he wont take part then there will always be a suspission of guilt.

If an investigation takes place without his input, which it will, he has no opportunity to defend himself and leaves himself open to any lies that are told by other parties involved.

The situation at present is that he is being asked (told) to leave the country which must be a stain on his career so it could be reasonably assumed that what he has done would have worse consequences.

It was probably just a domestic with some embarrassing words used.

And it sounds like he came off worse, so whoever battered him is probably quite pleased with the outcome.

Originally Posted by thailazer

Probably a Trumpster and part of the nutcase syndrome. Good on New Zealand for not putting up with it.

Yes it's always Trumps fault, are you still looking for Trumps Benghazi slip.

Caught spying on someone ?

Originally Posted by Troy

Caught spying on someone ?

Oooh a Peeping Tom?

(Well, a Peeping Colin).

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

Be nice to know what occurred.

A 10 year old ewe by the name of Baabara working for one of New Zealand's top escort service companies stated "After servicing the gentleman he refused to pay me. During the altercation I butted him square in the face and left."

Charges include sexual solicitation of a minor and failure to pay for services rendered.

Serious stuff!

Is this ambassador a Drumpf appointee?

^ Rapidly becoming a crisis 3/4 of the federal government is empty at this point.

^Oh well.....Got to make tweet time, and food time, and golf time, and time to bind self-inflicted wounds.

^ Yep in the meantime the country is rudderless foreign diplomats go unanswered and Drumpf refuses to shake a world leaders hand.

Originally Posted by VocalNeal

I was led to believe that diplomatic immunity only covers immunity to prosecution.
I see no wrong in allowing the person to be interviewed in the presence of another diplomat.
Only if the police wish to prosecute would the diplomatic immunity card be played.

Assuming the Consul General or Head of Mission in the embassy who is currently in charge would know this if he/she is a career diplomat.

Diplomats don't go to court, and can't be compelled to testify under oath. Rather than getting bogged down in the legal process, they just put the alleged offender on the next flight out.

US diplomat police want to question leaves - 18-Mar-2017 - NZ Politics news

"This occurred in the afternoon of Monday, March 13, in accordance with New Zealand's policy to request a waiver of immunity when police wish to investigate allegations of serious crimes," Mr McCully says.

For the purpose of MFAT's policy, a serious crime is an offence for which the penalty is a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more.

"Officials in Wellington and our ambassador in Washington DC have clearly conveyed to the US the expectation that foreign diplomats obey the law in New Zealand and are seen to face justice in New Zealand.

The refusal to waive immunity is disappointing and as a result MFAT has asked that the diplomat be withdrawn from New Zealand.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

Originally Posted by bsnub

Is this ambassador a Drumpf appointee?

There is no Ambassador at the moment. Trump recalled over 80 Ambassadors appointed by Obama immediately upon winning the election. Almost none have yet been replaced.

I might add that the presence, or lack thereof, of an Ambassador really has no bearing on this issue, although it does point out (again) how little understanding Trump and his joke of an 'insider circle' have of how the federal government works. Embassies without Ambassadors are run in the interim by the Number 2, who is almost always a career State Department officer. The guy in question is carried as a "Technical Attache", which means nothing. His wife is/was also an Embassy employee. This could be a dispute over a sheep, or noisy domestic brawl. We have no way of knowing, and probably never will.

Indeed, unlike the UK, many US ambassadorial appointments are rewards and repayment of favours owed by an incumbent administration with the real State Department heavy lifting being done by the deputy head of mission, a career civil servant who know what they are doing.

The guy although accredited as a "Technical Attache" could well have been NSA personnel and there is no way in hell any embassy is going to waive immunity if that were to be the case. As Davis says, no way of knowing.