Everybody can become accused of an offense or a crime or can even become a victim of justice while traveling abroad.
I had 5 encounters in 5 different countries so far. Croatia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and New Zealand.
At the beginning of a three year long journey, I went on a bicycle day ride in Southern Croatia. Somewhere in the mountains, I passed a handwritten sign on a wooden board, written in Croatian. This was the border between Croatia and Bosnia. A few more kilometers up the track I hit a road and a building, which looked like a border control station. I assumed, that I crossed the border accidentally and went back. Back in Croatia the border guard came my way and stopped me. They told me, that they saw me on a camera crossing the border. I had to tell them, where my van was parked in Croatia, they checked my passport and the content of my backpack. Their office told them on the radio when I entered Croatia by car and confirmed the details of my van.
They apologized, as I could not understand the sign, I apologized and thanked them for their correct treatment and continued my bicycle ride.
Returning from Lalish Valley in Iraq I stopped at a oil production facility and took the photograph above of a Peshmerga Soldier with his permission.
Some other soldiers of a nearby military base saw me and came towards us. I had to follow them to their base, where I had to leave my car. We went to another base. Everything was investigated there, we had dinner together, and at the end, I got my camera back and they drove me back to my car. The whole procedure took about 4 hours. The Iraqi soldiers told me from the beginning, this is their procedure, this happened before, there is nothing to worry about.
They gave me a few boxes of water bottles and I was free to go.
1,5 years later, on the same trip, I was about to drive around the city of Mekka in Saudi Arabia. I was not allowed to enter Mekka, as I am not a Muslim. Somewhere south of Mekka I left the main road and tried to find an overnight parking spot, recommended to me by I Overlander, a smartphone application for overland travels.
I did not find the camping spot and went somehow into Mekka. After a while of driving, I stopped at a mosque to fill up drinking water. Two brothers told me, that I am still inside the radius of Mekka, only Moslems are allowed to enter, and that it would be better to leave, as I will get into trouble with the police. The neighbor of the mosque brought me already a big plate of food and told me it should be no problem to stay, as we are all sons of Allah.
I stayed a little longer and indeed, the police arrived. I had to follow them to the police station. They started to examine every little detail with the help of a interpreter.
I asked the interpreter, if I would get into deeper trouble. He pointed to a poster on the wall, and advised me, to read the English text, which were my rights, written in English, below Arabic letters. He said, my explanations are conclusive and are clearly indicating that I did not do anything wrong. For this reason, I won’t get any trouble.
3 hours later they put me behind bars. 2 hours after this, they put me into a room with a real bed.
One hour after this, the interpreter came again, as the prosecutor had arrived. I had to tell him the same things again.
At 5 in the morning, an officer woke me up, wanted to see my phone. He checked my photo folder and all my messages, in order to see, if I took any photographs of the city of Mekka. He did not find any. In case he found any photographs of Mekka, I had to stay there, he said.
After another two hours an officer came to me and told me, the prosecution had checked all details and I was free to leave.
They apologized, thanked me for my understanding and told me, they had to follow this procedure. The Saudi Police strictly obeyed to the law and the bill of rights in a way, every constitutional state should do.
On my way from Jordan to Iraq I stopped somewhere along the road to take the photo above. Suddenly, a military convoy came along, and stopped. I took a photo of the convoy. Several soldiers came towards me, all pointing their guns at me. I lifted both hands, an officer came towards me, took my camera and left.
After a few minutes, he had discussed the matter with his superiors. I had to show them the photographs, got my camera back and was supposed to leave.
In New Zealand (NZ), I was accused of having bought the wrong fishing license.
In May 23, New Zealand Immigration issued my 3,5 year long visitor visa with the possibility to study for up to 3 months per year in NZ. I was allowed to stay in NZ to a maximum of 6 months in one stretch. After leaving the country for just one day, I could return immediately. This kind of visa was never issued before. It was a consequence of Covid-19, in order to bring people back to NZ. Before, the 50 / 50 rule applied, meaning, that after staying for 6 or 9 month, the ordinary length of extended visitor visas in NZ, you had to leave NZ and stay out of NZ for 6 or 9 months at least.
I arrived in New Zealand in the middle of October 2023 and bought a fishing license for visitors of NZ, as I spent the previous 12 months outside of NZ. I left NZ exactly 6 months later, in the middle of April 2024.
I returned to NZ 6 months later, in the middle of October 2024. This time I bought the fishing license for NZ residents, as I spent exactly 6 out of the previous 12 months in NZ.
Fish and Game NZ (F&G NZ) are defining the expressions NZ resident and non resident on their website with 3 conditions.
1. 6 months out of the last 12 months in NZ is one condition.
2. NZ is primary place of established residence.
I left Germany in March 21 and have been working and traveling as a kind of a digital nomad since. Since leaving Germany in 2021, I have not stayed longer than 3 months in one country, except in NZ. NZ introduced and amended laws to meet the needs of digital nomads.
3. You must hold a residence class or work or study visa. My Visa allows me to study for up to 3 months each year in NZ.
This definition clearly says, you have to be a NZ citizen or meet the 3 requirements above.
After returning from a hike in the second half of October 2024 I called back a missed call on my phone. I was talking to the Chief Executive Official of Fish and Game NZ (CEO F&G NZ). He told me, he made a databank check after going through one of my articles, I wrote for a NZ Hunting and Fishing Magazine. By doing this, he found out, that I have a resident fishing license for this season but had a visitor license last season. This is not allowed, he said, as I have to be a NZ Citizen in order to get a NZ resident license. This was a wrong fact.He asked me, if I could come to the office, as he had some questions, what I did the following day.
The next day he and one colleague told me the same, what I contradicted, by showing them a screenshot of the F&G NZ definitions. They continued claiming that only NZ citizens are allowed for the resident license. I continued refuting their arguments by explaining them my points, mentioned already above.
The 2 F&G NZ officials continued claiming, that only NZ citizens are allowed to have a resident fishing license.
None of these two officials were a jurist or an properly skilled enforcement officer.
6 months later, I received an e-mail from F&G NZ, which included a summon with date for court, a charging document, signed by a F&G prosecutor, who is a physician. It also included a document, summary of facts. This was a enumeration of 19 points.
This document claimed, that the CEO F&G NZ enlightened me, that our conversation about 6 months ago, was a formal interview, as well, that they were reading me my bill of rights. Both is not true. Another point said, that I had only a tourist visa, another wrong fact.
In this whole conversation I did not agree with the F&G officials, but they claimed, I did.
Highly concerning was the date, these documents were mailed and the date for the appointment in court, which was set to a few days after my departure out of NZ. F&G NZ knew exactly, that I had to leave NZ just a few days before they arranged the court date.
I contacted the court, and they changed the court date for the last day of my 6 months stay in NZ.
I had the possibility to speak to a duty lawyer. I explained her my situation, and she advised me to plead on non guilty.
She spoke to the prosecutor, explained her my situation and mentioned, that she never had someone, who was better prepared than I was. It was not very difficult to refute the point of view of F&G NZ.
Afterward, the prosecutor canceled this appointment and said, it will be at the beginning of of July 25 instead, and I can attend by video online. He also said to the duty lawyer, that Fish and Game has to protect its precious designated waters. This statement is indicating, that the prosecutor was not interested in a fair verdict – he had other goals.
A few days before the court date in July 2024 I contacted the court and asked, how I could attend this trial by video. I also handed in a a document, 5 pages long, in which I refuted the most important points against me. I wanted to be sure, that the court was aware of my point of view, in case the video would not work during my court appointment.
Suddenly, Christchurch District Court moved my case inside this court to another division / department. My case started from the beginning and my 5 pages document was not taken into account. The appointment was cancelled and set to a date in early October 2025, which I had to cancel, as I was sure, not to be in NZ at this time.
In the first half of October 2025 I found out through a statement of Fish and Game North Canterbury on Facebook, that I was convicted to the maximum penalty of 1200 NZD. My full name was mentioned. This statement was shared many times on Facebook and Fish and Game North Canterbury shared an article of thepress, (thepress.co.nz), with almost the same content like the Facebook post. But the article of thepress claimed, that I was attending the court trail, which was not true.
The CEO F&G NZ, who was mentioned in this article of thepress, to have investigated this case, was working for exactly this newspaper media, thepress, for more than 20 years as a photo editor.
There is a bill of rights, which is containing the basic rules of a fair trial in court, among others. All of these rights of a fair trial were violated.
F&G NZ and the Justice of NZ, but most likely the CEO F&G NZ abused the media, his former employer, the fourth power beside the legislative, the executive and the judicial powers.
One basic rule of a fair trial is the right, to attend a public trial and having the possibility to question witnesses, etc.. By publishing the wrong fact, that I was attending this legal proceeding against me, thepress, part of the media, is claiming, that I had a fair trial, which was not the case. This is against all rule of law.
This article of the press and the Facebook post also claimed, that you have to be a NZ citizen, in order to have a residential fishing license, another wrong fact.
How can clear cases of judicial companionship and the perversion of justice happen in NZ?
The goal of Fish and Game is clear. They introduced the designated water system in 2023 and want to exclude foreigners from their most beautiful fisheries to preserve them for locals. There is nothing wrong with that.
They wanted to make an example, to send a message out to foreign fishermen, not to circumvent the system, by buying the wrong license in order to be able to fish everywhere unrestricted.
The fact, that the CEO F&G NZ was investigating my case, is showing 3 things:
1. They wanted to send this message, and for this reason, none of the parties, which were involved in this case, were interested in a fair verdict or fair court decision.
2. The CEO F&G NZ has no more important tasks than investigating a case with a maximum fine of a little over 500 Euro. This amount is exceeded by most speeding tickets.
3. Fish and Game NZ has no better employees to carry out these task.
The very low maximum penalty of not even 600 Euro is showing, that a foreign fisherman on a three months tourist visa in NZ, illegally purchasing a residential fishing license, is not a big criminal.
Most important
This case shows, how dangerous it is, to give tasks of sovereign authority and tasks, which are equal to police enforcement, into the hands of unskilled law enforcement officers without character suitability.
These tasks must only be assigned to police officials, who are properly skilled and proved character suitability during a aptitude selection procedure, before being put into service.
One of the two F&G NZ officials, questioning me, was a biologists and the other, the CEO F&G NZ, was a former newspaper photo editor for more than 20 years.
The Fish and Games prosecutor is a natural scientist.
Unlike the police, Fish and Game New Zealand is not part of the Executive Power.
In a constitutional state, such conditions must not be possible among any circumstances.
My response
F&G NZ took advantage of me, because I am a foreigner in NZ and for this reason, they thought, I am weak and helpless. Their arrogance and feelings of omnipotence offended and insulted me.
I could have hired a criminal defense lawyer. The exponentially increasing number of lawyers in NZ is leading to a low quality of their work and to a decrease of moral standards. By reading the reviews of lawyers on google, you can easily recognize, that they are written by the lawyers themselves, as most of the clients of criminal defense attorneys are unable to write without spelling errors, for instance.
I cannot do anything against this clear case of perversion of justice, as I did not receive any documents or any kind of instructions on legal remedies. With near certainty this is done on purpose.