OOPSIE!

One question a lot of people asked while Randy Blythe was in prison was, “How the hell has this guy been wanted for manslaughter in the Czech Republic for two years and no one even knew about it?” Which is a fair question.

But, uh, it seems like someone actually did know about it — specifically, someone in Blythe’s own government. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Blythe claims that the U.S. Justice Department knew he was wanted by Czech authorities — they just never bothered to tell him:

“The Czech authority sent a letter to the Justice Department, and our government told them basically where they can get off. They said, ‘No, we won’t cooperate.’ I don’t know if the American government thought there was not enough basis for them to pursue an investigation. Regardless, what I’m a little bit steamed about is the fact that they didn’t have the courtesy to contact me – in any way, shape or form – and say, ‘Hey, you’re wanted for manslaughter in a foreign country.’”

In other words, if anyone had contacted Blythe, he might have been able to figure out a way to deal with the situation without sitting in a jail for five weeks and having to cancel a whole tour; he almost certainly never would have flown to the Czech Republic in the first place.

And, hey, in all fairness, I’m sure the United States Justice Department is very busy, and they probably have some shit on their plate that even Randy Blythe would admit is far more important than than his case in Prague. That being said, it probably would have taken all of ten seconds for someone to either send Blythe a form letter or leave him an automated voicemail saying “Hey brah, just a heads up, the Czechs are really pissed at you.” I mean, you’d think they’d let any U.S. citizen know that he or she is wanted in a foreign country just as a matter of course, and certainly if, say, that person’s profession often involved him traveling to foreign countries such as the one where he is wanted. Then again, these kinds of bureaucracies are so beholden to red tape that I would not be at all surprised if the aforementioned form letter fell under someone’s desk and was never mailed, or is going to be mailed to Blythe this week, or any number of other Brazil-like scenarios.

Read the entire interview with Blythe here — there’s a lot of other really interesting info in it — then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

-AR

[via Lambgoat]