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U.S. YouTuber still in jail after trying to visit remote tribe on forbidden island where another American was killed

U.S. YouTuber still in jail after trying to visit remote tribe on forbidden island where another American was killed

CBS News17-04-2025
An American YouTuber who was arrested after visiting an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean with hopes of establishing contact with a reclusive tribe was further detained in custody on Thursday. The 24-year-old was initially arrested more than six years after another American was
killed
with arrows by the tribe on the same island.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov will next appear before a local court in Port Blair -- the capital of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands -- on April 29, police said.
Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe.
"It may be claimed to be an adventure trip, but the fact is that there has been a violation of Indian laws. Outsiders meeting Sentinelese could endanger the tribe's survival," said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity as he isn't authorized to speak about the case under investigation.
Polyakov is suspected of violating Indian laws that carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine.
Visitors are banned from traveling within 3 miles of North Sentinel Island, whose population has been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The inhabitants use spears and bows and arrows to hunt the animals that roam the small, heavily forested island. Deeply suspicious of outsiders, they attack anyone who lands onto their beaches.
In 2018,
John Allen Chau
, an American missionary who landed illegally on the beach was killed by North Sentinelese Islanders who apparently
shot him with arrows
and then buried his body on the beach. In 2006, the Sentinelese had killed two fishermen who had accidentally landed on the shore.
An official from the U.S. consulate visited Polyakov in jail earlier this week. The U.S embassy in Delhi didn't immediately respond to a request confirming the visit or any further updates on Polyakov.
Police said Polyakov had conducted detailed research on sea conditions, tides and accessibility to the island before starting his journey. He stayed on the beach for about an hour, blowing a whistle to attract the attention but got no response from the islanders.
The young American had twice attempted to visit the island in the past, and left a can of Diet Coke and a coconut as offering for the tribe this time after he failed to contact the Sentinelese. He shot a video of the island on his camera and collected some sand samples before returning to his boat.
After his arrest, the charity Survival International
issued a statement,
calling Polyakov's actions "deeply disturbing/"
"It beggars belief that someone could be that reckless and idiotic," the group's director, Carolina Pearce, said. "This person's actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk. It's very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out."
On his return he was spotted by local fishermen, who informed the authorities and Polyakov was arrested in Port Blair, an archipelago nearly 750 miles east of India's mainland.
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The Complex Ending of Indian Thriller 'Mandala Murders'
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FACT FOCUS: Trump claims cashless bail increases crime, but data is inconclusive
FACT FOCUS: Trump claims cashless bail increases crime, but data is inconclusive

Hamilton Spectator

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FACT FOCUS: Trump claims cashless bail increases crime, but data is inconclusive

As his administration faces mounting pressure to release Justice Department files related the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, President Donald Trump is highlighting a different criminal justice issue — cashless bail. He suggested in a Truth Social post this week that eliminating cash bail as a condition of pretrial release from jail has led to rising crime in U.S. cities that have enacted these reforms. However, studies have shown no clear link. Here's a closer look at the facts. TRUMP: 'Crime in American Cities started to significantly rise when they went to CASHLESS BAIL. The WORST criminals are flooding our streets and endangering even our great law enforcement officers. It is a complete disaster, and must be ended, IMMEDIATELY!' THE FACTS: Data has not determined the impact of cashless bail on crime rates. But experts say it is incorrect to claim that there is an adverse connection. 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Different jurisdictions, different laws In 2023, Illinois became the first state to completely eliminate cash bail when the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law abolishing it. The move was part of an expansive criminal justice overhaul adopted in 2021 known as the SAFE-T Act . Under the change, a judge decides whether to release the defendant prior to their trial, weighing factors such as their criminal charges, if they could pose any danger to others and if they are considered a flight risk. Loyola University of Chicago's Center for Criminal Justice published a 2024 report on Illinois' new cashless bail policy, one year after it went into effect. It acknowledges that there is not yet enough data to know what impact the law has had on crime, but that crime in Illinois did not increase after its implementation. Violent and property crime declined in some counties. 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