Things to Do When Caught in a Legal Trouble Abroad
When traveling abroad, you have to make sure that you always follow the laws. Your country doesn’t share a lot with the place that you’re visiting, and that includes the laws. There are things considered a norm in your home country, but are illegal elsewhere. If you unknowingly committed or accused of a crime while traveling, you need to know what to do.
Research before you travel
To avoid getting in the middle of these legal troubles, you need to research before traveling. Find out exactly what are considered taboos and illegal in the place that you’re visiting so you can avoid them. Even the way you dress up could get you in trouble when you visit conservative countries.
Make sure you’re facing authorities
There are countries where some people pretend to be authorities so they can scare you and force you to pay. They will accuse you of doing illegal stuff when you haven’t done anything wrong. Therefore, you have to determine first if you’re actually talking to an authority. If you’re getting arrested, you have to ask for an ID from the officer to prove that he is police. You also need to check if you’re heading to an actual police station. Once you’re being asked to pay in exchange of your freedom right where you got “caught”, it’s a sign that you’re dealing with criminals.
Remain silent
Try your best not to resist authorities. You don’t have to answer all questions since you have the right to remain silent. You have to stay calm until you can find someone who can offer legal assistance. If you keep talking, you might put yourself in even more legal trouble. Besides, no authority can force you to speak up since it’s illegal. You can also face a language barrier issue, so you better keep quiet.
Contact your embassy
You can ask for a phone if the authorities don’t allow you to use yours. Call your embassy and ask for help. The embassy could send someone to assist you or even invoke diplomatic ties so you won’t be in further trouble. It might only apply if you didn’t commit a serious and violent crime.
Inform your family
You also have to contact the people you know back home. Tell them about what happened so they won’t worry. You also need to ask them to send legal assistance. With the aid of social media, it might be possible for them to contact your fellow citizens residing in the place where you currently are to come over and help.
It’s a different story if you intentionally did the crime
It’s one thing to be accused of something wrong if you didn’t intentionally do it. However, if you got involved in serious crimes like drugs or human trafficking, you are in serious trouble. Even your home country might not help you anymore. You have to face the consequences of your actions.
When you face these legal battles abroad, you have to stay calm and hope that you can get out without tarnishing your records.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/68230578/jail.jpg?width=748&height=499
2nd image from https://mycyprustravel.com/embassy-information-for-visitors/
