A South African who attempted to climb Mount Everest without permission has been arrested in Nepal where he faces a US$22,000 fine — double the cost of the permit he was trying to avoid.
Ryan Sean Davy on Tuesday handed himself in to authorities in Kathmandu after being caught last week hiding in a cave near Everest’s base camp without a permit.
The 43-year-old began swearing and threatening officials from the tourism department during questioning and was arrested under Nepal’s strict public order laws, Tourist Police Inspector Tulasha Khatiwada said.
Photo: AP
He is now in custody and will appear in court next week to face charges related to his Everest attempt and possible additional offences over his conduct during the investigation.
“He will be fined and deported as per the Tourism Act of Nepal. He may face further penalty for misbehaving with the police,” Nepalese Tourism Director Dinesh Bhattarai said.
Foreigners have to pay the Nepalese government US$11,000 for permission to climb the 8,848m peak — a major earner for the impoverished country.
Under Nepalese law, climbers caught without the mandatory permit are fined US$22,000.
Davy could also be blacklisted from Nepal for five years or face a 10-year climbing ban when he appears in court next week.
The South African — who describes himself on social media as a film director and producer — was caught a short distance from Everest base camp and was ordered off the mountain.
He had pitched a tent away from the other climbers to try and dodge government officials who monitor all Everest ascents.
He told officials he had climbed alone as far as camp two — at 6,400m — to acclimatize in preparation for a solo summit bid.
His antics have angered many in the close-knit climbing community, who say the South African would have put himself and others in danger if he had attempted to reach the summit alone.
“He did not have any agency to look out for him or call for rescue if anything happened. Other teams would have to come to his rescue and would be exposed to unnecessary dangers,” Nepal Mountaineering Association head Ang Tsering Sherpa said.
“The system of permits and guides is there for a reason,” he said.
Davy was caught not far from where more than 1,000 mountaineers and support staff have gathered for the busy spring climbing season.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of