Two tourists from Lauchenoiria have been arrested for smuggling smartphones into the anti-technology nation of Yesteria. The arrests, which happened on the 2nd April, came after the pair, both aged 21, attempted to use the devices to film Yesterians engaging in local religious rituals. After being spotted, those engaged in the rituals forcibly detained the pair before handing them off to the town of Northport’s law enforcement, which has responsibility for technological crimes. The incident has been thoroughly reported in several Yesterian print newspapers; copies of which have now made their way abroad.
Yesteria bans all non-medical technology invented after the year 1760; a year chosen to prevent technologies from the industrial revolution onwards. An exception for medical technology was introduced in 2005, but with no sources of electricity on the island, this generally only applies to medications. Travellers to Yesteria are not permitted to bring modern technologies to the islands; and are expected to leave any such devices outside of Yesterian territory.
The most common method of travel to Yesteria is to travel via modern methods to a ship anchored on the edge of Yesterian territorial waters which acts as an immigration and customs processing centre. The ship has left-luggage lockers where tourists can leave banned items. The visitors then board a sail ship to the actual islands. It is believed that the pair of Lauchenoirians, Antero Fonesca and Ernest Marquez, hid the devices inside printed books while on the customs ship, pretending to leave the devices in a locker.
The pair then travelled to Yesteria, where two days later they found a Yesterian religious ritual happening in the woods and chose to illegally film the participants. An eleven-year-old participant noticed “strange lights” in the trees and pointed out the intruders to the group elders. The adults then chased the pair, detaining them, and smashing the smartphones. It is legal in Yesteria for civilians to detain individuals committing crimes as long as they have permission of their community elders.
Upon being delivered to Northport, the pair were detained for two days before being put on trial. They were fined 70% of the value of money on their persons and immediately deported and banned from Yesteria for a period of 20 years. The Lauchenoirian Embassy was notified of the trial, though it is unreported whether or not the ambassador or other consular staff attended. The embassy would have been notified of the result, though deportations are carried out immediately in Yesteria when ordered. The smartphones were destroyed and the remains sent to the customs ship for disposal.
