Krasnapolski arrested as a fugitive (hello, israeli army) when entering Israel

[TAHbKA]

http://newsru.co.il/israel/05may2011/figur301.html


Am totally ROFL reading that, frankly.

A 23y.o. Evgeni Krasnapolski, who together with Danielle Montalbano represented Israel in the recent world Championships in Moscow was arrested in Ben Gurion airport charged with deserting.

According to `Yediot Ahronot' Krasnapolski as an exceptional sportsmen has a right to be away from Israel and the army for certain time periods for trainings and competitions.

In October 2010 he was allowed to leave Israel in order to prepare for the worlds. It was agreed between the federation, olympic committee and the army.

The skater was supposed to come back on November 8th and go on with his army service, but the federation asked the army to prolong his leave till after the worlds.

According to Yediot the Federation decided the permit was granted, though the army claims differently.

The minute Krasnapolski landed in Israel he was arrested by the army and there will be hearing in Haifa today on his case.

The federation lawyers claim the skater is innocent since all the talks were done by the army and the federation, the skater was only notified the permission was given. The army claims it's not the first time Krasnapolski doesnt' show up on time for his service and he was warned before should he be late again he would be arrested.

Did I say the federation were idiots?
To calm things down - even if he goes to the army jail it's not a big deal - the army jail resembles a summer camp more or less

[Ziggy]

Just when you though that Papa Chait couldn't do anything more stupid...

[TAHbKA]

Well, frankly, I hope the one who deals with those things is a secretary of some sort and not papa Boria in person.

[Yehudi]

Let's say they have some tribunal, he's found guilty, and goes to the army jail, and gets some kind of dishonorable discharge, what are the consequences for krasnapolski? In the US, a dishonorable discharge means you lose out on many benefits entitled to serviceman like health care and pensions and you can't get certain government jobs.

[Ziggy]

Well, frankly, I hope the one who deals with those things is a secretary of some sort and not papa Boria in person.

In which case, congratulations on the choice of staff.

Oh this is all going to be so .

Keep us updated on what the army tribunal finds, please.

[TAHbKA]

Let's say they have some tribunal, he's found guilty, and goes to the army jail, and gets some kind of dishonorable discharge, what are the consequences for krasnapolski? In the US, a dishonorable discharge means you lose out on many benefits entitled to serviceman like health care and pensions and you can't get certain government jobs.

No consequences at all as far as I know. Let's just say I was found guilty 7 times out of 9 I was judged in the army and other than being an amusing story to tell friends there is nothing else.

[Zemgirl]

No consequences at all as far as I know. Let's just say I was found guilty 7 times out of 9 I was judged in the army and other than being an amusing story to tell friends there is nothing else.

I was so well-behaved in comparison! Only one trial (not guilty).

For the non-Israelis, most likely this will be sorted out with no real repercussions. As an athlete, it's not like he's going to be doing anything meaningful in the army. But I'll keep an eye on the Hebrew-language media, just in case.

[PRlady]

was just coming here to post this. For some reason, half my Israeli and American colleagues sent me this story.

And I've alerted the head of Israel's biggest human rights organization.....

[barbk]

You mean your, ahem, obsession with figure skating hasn't gone unnoticed in the real world, PRlady?

[Debbie S]

And I've alerted the head of Israel's biggest human rights organization.....

Justice for figure skaters!

[Skittl1321]

Well that's an unfortunate mix up! Glad to hear from the Israeli's that it's not really a big deal. To an American- it sounds like a HUGE problem. (Of course our army doesn't let you take time off for figure skating!)

[Southpaw]

So I guess a skating season just isn't complete unless someone gets arrested. Last year it was Lutai in Lake Placid. Who will it be next year?

[milanessa]

To an American- it sounds like a HUGE problem. (Of course our army doesn't let you take time off for figure skating!)

Sure they would. That is if we had any troops that were of that caliber.

[Zemgirl]

Well that's an unfortunate mix up! Glad to hear from the Israeli's that it's not really a big deal. To an American- it sounds like a HUGE problem. (Of course our army doesn't let you take time off for figure skating!)

Sure, but the US has a volunteer military, while Israel has compulsory service. There are all sorts of exemptions, including for high-level athletes, whether they are skaters, footballers, swimmers or whatever. The problem here appears to be bureaucratic in nature, basically some sort of communications problem between the army and the IISF about Krasnapolski's athletic deferment. I will be extremely surprised if he gets in any real trouble - most likely he'll spend some time doing pointless work on an army base and everyone will be satisfied. It's not like he was going to join an elite unit.

[PRlady]

You mean your, ahem, obsession with figure skating hasn't gone unnoticed in the real world, PRlady?

There's a real world?

[Finnice]

There's a real world?

What, the figure skating world IS the real world

But anyway, free Krasnopolsky

[Dramahkween]

Just to clarify some details the article got slightly wrong- Evgeni was not arrested immediately upon re-entering the country. He returned home and was informed by the lawyers that he would have to report to jail in order to await his hearing/trial...So he wasn't exactly taken into custody by the IDF police as he left the airplane- Though that would have been OH so much more dramatic....

I hope this process can be expedited and the kids can get back to their training!

I wish the team the best of luck....Poor kids can't seem to catch a break!

[Ziggy]

No consequences at all as far as I know. Let's just say I was found guilty 7 times out of 9 I was judged in the army and other than being an amusing story to tell friends there is nothing else.

Bad TAHbKA!

[bek]

Poor guy. The people who should be serving this is his federation. This being said maybe next time he should get confirmation from the army itself seeing as his fed is this disorganized.

[Lanna]

Sure they would. That is if we had any troops that were of that caliber.

The US Army actually has a sportsman section called the World Class Athlete Program. At last Winter Olympics, one of the bobsledders didn't deploy with his unit so he could train/complete and wasn't sure if he was going to deploy to Afghanistan after the Olympics were over or not and do PR/promotional stuff for the Army instead (I don't remember if I ever read a followup on if he did deploy or not. EDIT: He did). The Olympic sport shooting team usually has a few team members from the Army, too, and other miscellaneous sports are represented.