Tourist may be jailed for taking stones

A man was detained for taking stones from a baech in Turkey. Picture: Shioshvili/Flickr

A TOURIST who collected stones during a six-day beach holiday with his wife said he was briefly detained in Turkey and faces trial for attempting to smuggle historical artifacts.

Jason Dement was taken into custody by security officials at Antalya airport, near Turkey's Mediterranean coast, on Sunday because two of the pieces inside a bag of stones appeared to be artifacts. On Monday, a court released him from custody but barred him from leaving Turkey.

His lawyer said Dement, 30, from Purvis, Mississippi, faces prosecution under strict Turkish laws against the smuggling of artifacts. Turkey has broad definitions about what constitutes historical artifacts and Fatma Zuhre Akinci, the lawyer, said a museum report confirmed the pieces picked out by the security officials to be artifacts.

The report, cited in court papers, did not say precisely what the pieces may have been or say how old they may be, Akinci said.

Dement said he and his wife, Sheila, have a habit of collecting stones as souvenirs. One of stones was a triangular-shaped rough marble piece that looked as though it came from a modern building.

The other was a slanted, 27 centimetre-long, brick-colored piece that had been washed by the sea and looked like it could have been old masonry.

"It had no inscription," Dement said from his hotel in Antalya. "It came from an ordinary beach. There were no historical sites around, no ancient ruins."

Dement, a former soldier, is a civilian employee at the Katterbach US Army base in Germany. His wife, who is also employed at the base was not detained and was allowed to board the plane for Germany on Sunday.

On a blog he created seeking help to cover his costs while in Turkey, Dement said: "The judge is awaiting an official report from a museum historian that will weigh in on the true value of the 'artifact'... and this will be a huge factor in the next phase of my court struggle."

The punishment for smuggling ancient artifacts is up to 12 years in prison.

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Kiwis taking flight across Tasman

MORE than 600,000 New Zealanders - almost 15 per cent of the trans-Tasman nation's population - are living in Australia on temporary visas.

New figures show the number of NZ citizens with special category visas jumped 5.4 per cent in the past year as they arrived in droves seeking jobs and better economic conditions.

The New Zealanders are among 1.75 million people, equal to the population of Perth, here on temporary visas, including tourists, foreign students, working holidaymakers and skilled workers on 457 visas.

Monash University population expert Dr Bob Birrell said the number of Kiwis was extraordinary but, unlike other temporary visa holders, they could stay as long as they liked under a trans-Tasman deal.

"They, like working holidaymakers, students and others, add to the competition for jobs, for space on our roadways and ... for housing," he said.

Dr Birrell said that the Kiwi influx was adding about 30,000 people a year to Australia's net migration intake as the economic gulf between the countries grew.

"So it makes sense if you're looking for a job to move to Australia rather than stay in NZ. It's like a bottomless pit, the numbers are really significant."

Dr Birrell said Kiwis here on temporary visas should be given permanent residence, but only if limits were placed on future movement of people from NZ to live and work in Australia.

Immigration Department figures reveal a record number of 1.75 million temporary entrants were here as of December 31 - up 7.2 per cent on the previous year.

This included 618,000 New Zealanders on special category visas, 402,000 visitors, 242,000 foreign students, 162,000 working holiday-makers, 157,000 on 457 visas and 102,000 on bridging visas.

UK citizens topped the visitors list on 82,000, followed by Chinese (33,300), Americans (29,000) and Indians (26,300). Of student visa holders, there were 53,300 Chinese and 29,500 Indians.

john.masanauskas@news.com.au

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Kiwis taking flight across Tasman

MORE than 600,000 New Zealanders - almost 15 per cent of the trans-Tasman nation's population - are living in Australia on temporary visas.

New figures show the number of NZ citizens with special category visas jumped 5.4 per cent in the past year as they arrived in droves seeking jobs and better economic conditions.

The New Zealanders are among 1.75 million people, equal to the population of Perth, here on temporary visas, including tourists, foreign students, working holidaymakers and skilled workers on 457 visas.

Monash University population expert Dr Bob Birrell said the number of Kiwis was extraordinary but, unlike other temporary visa holders, they could stay as long as they liked under a trans-Tasman deal.

"They, like working holidaymakers, students and others, add to the competition for jobs, for space on our roadways and ... for housing," he said.

Dr Birrell said that the Kiwi influx was adding about 30,000 people a year to Australia's net migration intake as the economic gulf between the countries grew.

"So it makes sense if you're looking for a job to move to Australia rather than stay in NZ. It's like a bottomless pit, the numbers are really significant."

Dr Birrell said Kiwis here on temporary visas should be given permanent residence, but only if limits were placed on future movement of people from NZ to live and work in Australia.

Immigration Department figures reveal a record number of 1.75 million temporary entrants were here as of December 31 - up 7.2 per cent on the previous year.

This included 618,000 New Zealanders on special category visas, 402,000 visitors, 242,000 foreign students, 162,000 working holiday-makers, 157,000 on 457 visas and 102,000 on bridging visas.

UK citizens topped the visitors list on 82,000, followed by Chinese (33,300), Americans (29,000) and Indians (26,300). Of student visa holders, there were 53,300 Chinese and 29,500 Indians.

john.masanauskas@news.com.au

View the original article here

Kiwis taking flight across Tasman

MORE than 600,000 New Zealanders - almost 15 per cent of the trans-Tasman nation's population - are living in Australia on temporary visas.

New figures show the number of NZ citizens with special category visas jumped 5.4 per cent in the past year as they arrived in droves seeking jobs and better economic conditions.

The New Zealanders are among 1.75 million people, equal to the population of Perth, here on temporary visas, including tourists, foreign students, working holidaymakers and skilled workers on 457 visas.

Monash University population expert Dr Bob Birrell said the number of Kiwis was extraordinary but, unlike other temporary visa holders, they could stay as long as they liked under a trans-Tasman deal.

"They, like working holidaymakers, students and others, add to the competition for jobs, for space on our roadways and ... for housing," he said.

Dr Birrell said that the Kiwi influx was adding about 30,000 people a year to Australia's net migration intake as the economic gulf between the countries grew.

"So it makes sense if you're looking for a job to move to Australia rather than stay in NZ. It's like a bottomless pit, the numbers are really significant."

Dr Birrell said Kiwis here on temporary visas should be given permanent residence, but only if limits were placed on future movement of people from NZ to live and work in Australia.

Immigration Department figures reveal a record number of 1.75 million temporary entrants were here as of December 31 - up 7.2 per cent on the previous year.

This included 618,000 New Zealanders on special category visas, 402,000 visitors, 242,000 foreign students, 162,000 working holiday-makers, 157,000 on 457 visas and 102,000 on bridging visas.

UK citizens topped the visitors list on 82,000, followed by Chinese (33,300), Americans (29,000) and Indians (26,300). Of student visa holders, there were 53,300 Chinese and 29,500 Indians.

john.masanauskas@news.com.au

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Kicked off the plane 'for taking a photo'

United Airlines has reminded passengers not to take photographs of cabin crew without their consent. Picture: United Airlines

HOW many times have you taken a photo of your plane seat? Or a selfie as you're ready to take off? Don't do it. You could be kicked off the plane.

That's exactly what happened to travel writer Mathew Klint on a United Airlines flight from New York to Istanbul last week.

In his travel blog Live and Let Fly, Mr Klint says the incident was traumatising and highly embarrassing.

He had been booked to fly business class and wanted to provide a review. So he started to take photos for the blog.

"As I settled into my seat, I pulled out my iPhone to take a few pictures of the seat. When I held the phone at forehead level to take the picture below, a flight attendant came running over and told me that I could not take any pictures of the cabin,” Mr Klint writes.

Mr Klint claims the flight attendant then directed him to a section of the in-flight magazine that explains you can't take photos or video without getting permission unless it's of you and your friends and not of the plane.

So what did Mr Klint take a photo of?

He claims (the photo is published here) that he took one photo of the in-flight entertainment system on United.

Mr Klint says he stopped taking photographs as soon as he was asked. He then tried to explain that he was a travel writer and intended to do a review.

"I want you to understand why I was taking pictures. I hope you didn't think I was a terrorist. Here is my business card [offering her one]. I write about United Airlines on an almost-daily basis and the folks at United in Chicago are even aware of my blog."

Soon after Mr Klint says he was approached by a Global Services representative who told him that he must leave the flight immediately.

Other passengers on the flight have confirmed that Mr Klint did stop taking photographs when he was asked to by the flight attendant.

United Airlines confirmed to news.com.au that they had spoken to Mr Klint. An investigation into the incident is underway.

A spokesperson told news.com.au that passengers were welcome to record their experience on planes, but they should be careful not to record staff members without consent. 

"We have spoken with Mr. Klint about his experience,” a United Airlines spokesperson said. "Separately, we welcome customers to record their personal experiences on board provided they don't take photos or videos of customers and crew members without their consent. This is both a security and service measure we take that also respects the privacy of other customers. United's policy was implemented in 2010."

Mr Klint insists he followed the flight attendants instructions and stopped photographing as soon as he was asked.

"Perhaps I should not have used the term 'terrorist'” he said.

Mr Klint says he does not blame United for the incident, although he is still clearly distressed by it.

"I will not tar and feather United Airlines as a whole based on the unfortunate actions of one FA and one pilot. Our 10-year relationship means something and I am not going to split because of one bad day. Having said that, United must now earn my trust back. More importantly, I want to see the airline move in a direction that no passenger is ever again put in the position that I was.”

What do you think? Should passengers be allowed to take photos on board planes? 

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