Flying A Drone In Some Places Can Land You In Jail

Travelers that love to take drones along on their trips need to be aware of local rules and regulations regarding the devices—as one unfortunate French tourist in Myanmar recently discovered in an incident that landed him with a month of prison time with labor included. And apparently, he got off easy.

Taking drones overseas can be fun—you get some great video and shots of your trip that not many other people are likely to get. But you do need to be careful. Each country, and sometimes cities and tourist sites specifically, have their own rules for the flying cameras.

Twenty-seven-year-old French tourist Arthur Desclaux recently found out the hard way that you need to research local regulations before traveling with your drone. He went to Myanmar and was arrested after flying his drone too close to the parliament building.

Burmese court hands Frenchman prison for flying a drone over parliament
Police arrested Arthur Desclaux in Naypyitaw on Feb. 7. The court convicted him of violating an import-export law by bringing a drone into Myanmar and flying it above Parliament pic.twitter.com/WbEAOdXTi4

— ThaiMythbuster (@thaimythbuster) February 28, 2019

Desclaux was charged with several things, including flying a drone in an off-limits place, and violating an import law—he apparently needed a license to fly the drone. Desclaux was lucky, though. He was only sentenced to a month in prison with labor. The maximum sentence would have been three years.

“We gave him a light sentence—one month imprisonment with labor was given to him as he confessed with sincerity that he was guilty,” the judge presiding over the case said, reported by Digital Trends.

Desclaux’s legal team was also satisfied with the result, noting that “[Desclaux’s] good faith—and the fact that he imported this drone without having the intention of breaking the law—was taken into account by the court,” French consular official Frederic Inza said, according to Digital Trends.

[Source: Shutterstock]