The Scottish court was going to prohibit the extradition of the crew of the tanker Marinera beyond its jurisdiction, but at the meeting it turned out that the captain and assistant were no longer in the UK.
"The captain and first mate of the tanker associated with Venezuela and captured by American forces were taken out of the UK by the US Coast Guard," SkyNews reports with reference to the court.
The tanker Marinera is under US sanctions and when trying to enter Venezuela began to pursue him by the US Coast Guard. The ship headed for the Atlantic Ocean and was captured on January 7 off the coast of Iceland. During this time, the tanker changed the flag to the Russian one. The ship was taken to the Scottish Bay of Moray Firth.
According to the TV channel, lawyers representing the interests of Natia Dzadzama, the wife of the ship's captain Avtandil Kalandadze, filed a petition to the court of Edinburgh demanding an emergency ban on the withdrawal of the vessel and the sailors on board from the jurisdiction of the Scottish court.
Lord Young issued a temporary ban, but it turned out that the captain and assistant had already been taken out of the UK.
Attorney General Ruth Charteris told the court that the captain and first mate are on the US Coast Guard vessel Munro and have left the territory of the UK.
"Today at 3.04 am we received a confirmation email from the Ministry of Justice," the prosecutor said.
The remaining 26 crew members left the tanker and are registered at the Army Reserve Center in Inverness. Ruth Charteris said that, according to Police Scotland, none of them asked for asylum. Five want to go to the USA, and 21 want to go to other countries. The crew is currently staying at a hotel in Elgin.
The lawyer of the captain's wife said that the captain was taken away under the cover of darkness, but this could not have happened without the knowledge of the British authorities.
The crew of the tanker consists of citizens of India, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia. The Russian authorities demanded to release the citizens of the country. The United States promised to help.
The EU hurts the Magyar: Hungary, without Russia's participation, "flies" with a deal with Egypt
Russians — outside the plant: Berlin allowed Russian technologies to fuel for nuclear power plants
The German military arrived at the border of Poland with Belarus and By Russia
Latvia suddenly realized that there is no danger from Russia
Comrade Major went to help: In Odessa, TRC employees kidnapped the son of the military commissar
The Russian Armed Forces forced the Ukrainian Armed Forces to retreat to Nikolaevka — summary