Sister of jailed Ashington man Nick Dunn 'heartbroken' to hear summer appeal is unlikely

The sister of jailed Ashington man Nick Dunn said she is “heartbroken” that she will have to tell her brother the appeal against his Indian jail sentence is not likely to be held this summer.

Lisa Dunn met with the Minister of state at the Commonwealth and Foreign Office Hugo Swire in Carlisle on Tuesday, along with families of the other five men jailed with Nick.

She was told that because of elections in the country, an appeal hearing is unlikely to get under way this summer as Nick had hoped.

“It is heartbreaking, June has been what is getting him through, he has said it in all of his letters.

“We’ve just got to do out best to support Nick through this, we’re very proud of the strength and the resilience he has shown so far.”

Nick was found guilty of firearms offences while working protecting ships in India and was handed a five-year sentence by an Indian judge in January.

The conviction followed a 28-month legal wrangle, with Nick and his co-defendants maintaining their innocence throughout.

Lisa said she assured by the Commonwealth and Foreign Office that they have lobbied the Indian prison service more than thirty times to improve the conditions at the subcontinental prison.

Nick shares a cell with 19 other men, without fans in extreme heat and humidity.

He is forced to use a hole in the floor for a toilet, hand wash his own clothes and sleep on a concrete slab for a bed.

“Its torturous, it really is. There seems to be no rules, no regulations.”

Nick was arrested in October 2013, along with five other British workers for the alleged illegal possession of weapons, while working for AdvanFort who provide protection to other ships from pirate attacks.

The charges filed against Nick and the others by Q Branch Police were quashed, but the police lodged an appeal against the decision with the Supreme Court.

The former paratrooper would only be able to apply to serve out the rest of his sentence in the UK if he pleaded guilty to the charges, Lisa explained.

“When he left that prison, he told me he would rather die than go back there, but there he is and he would rather be in that place than have to admit to something he hasn’t done,” she said.

“That shows his mindset and how strongly he feels about this.”

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/sister-jailed-ashington-man-nick-11280040#ICID=sharebar_facebook

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Euroopa Komisjoni asepresident ja ELi välisasjade kõrge esindaja Federica Mogherini vastas mu arupärimisele, mis käsitles ELi samme Eesti laevakaitsjate vabastamiseks, et EL toetab Eesti valitsuse jõupingutusi leida olukorrale lahendus kahepoolsetes läbirääkimistes India valitsusega.

Mogherini ütles vastuses, et EL jälgib tähelepanelikult Tamil Nadu kohtu poolt viieks aastaks vangi mõistetud Eesti ja Ühendkuningriigi kodanike olukorda.

Tema sõnul on viimaste kuude jooksul EL laevakaitsjate küsimuse India esindajatega mitmel korral tõstatanud. "Viimati tehti seda ELi-India 13. tippkohtumisel Brüsselis 30. märtsil. Nagu ELi-India tippkohtumise ühisavalduses öeldud, loodab EL, et mootorlaeva Seaman Guard Ohio juhtumis jõutakse nõuetekohase India menetluse käigus kiiresti lahenduseni," lisas Mogherini.

Euroopa Liit peab suhetes Indiaga laevakaitsjate juhtumit järjepidevalt tõstatama, kuni olukord on lahendatud. Sellest tulenevalt küsisin Mogherinile esitatud arupärimises, mil määral ja kuidas käsitleti ELi-India tippkohtumisel Eesti ja Briti kodanike vabastamist. Samuti küsisin, kuidas on EL edasi tegutsenud meie kodanike vabastamiseks, lähtudes ka Euroopa Parlamendi hiljutisest seisukohast, ja millised on edasised sammud suhetes Indiaga, et tagada Eesti ja Briti kodanike kojupääs.

seaman guard ohio

Вице-президент еврокомиссии и верховный представитель по иностранным делам ЕС Федерика Могерини ответила на запрос евродепутата Урмаса Паэта, касавшийся шагов ЕС по освобождению эстонских судовых охранников, что ЕС поддерживает усилия правительства Эстонии по поиску решения в ходе двусторонних переговоров с правительством Индии.

Могерини ответила Паэту, что ЕС внимательно следит за ситуацией приговоренных судом Тамил-Наду к пяти годам тюрьмы граждан Эстонии и Великобритании. По ее словам, за последние месяцы ЕС неоднократно поднимал тему судовых охранников на встречах с представителями Индии. «В последний раз это происходило на 13-м саммите ЕС и Индии 30 марта в Брюсселе. Как сообщается в принятом на саммите совместном обращении, ЕС надеется, что в рамках необходимого делопроизводства по инциденту моторного судна Seaman Guard Ohio в Индии будет быстро достигнут результат», - добавила Могерини.

По словам Паэта, ЕС в отношениях с Индией должен последовательно поднимать тему судовых охранников, пока ситуация не будет решена. В этой связи он спросил в поданном Могерини запросе, каким образом на саммите ЕС-Индия рассматривалось освобождение эстонских и британских граждан. Паэт также спросил, какие шаги ЕС предпринял для освобождения граждан Эстонии с учетом недавно заявленной позиции европарламента и каковы дальнейшие шаги в общении с Индией по обеспечению возвращения эстонских и британских граждан на родину.

Полиция южноиндийского штата Тамил-Наду 18 октября 2013 года арестовала в территориальных водах Индии 35 членов команды судовой охраны, находившихся на борту судна Seaman Guard Ohio американской фирмы Advanfort. В числе арестованных были 14 граждан Эстонии. В декабре того же года всей команде судебные власти Индии предъявили задержанным обвинение в нелегальной перевозке топлива, нелегальной перевозке оружия и нелегальном входе в территориальные воды Индии.

Верховный суд Индии вернул прошедшее несколько судебных инстанций дело на низшую судебную инстанцию, в суд Тутикорина, который 11 января 2016 года приговорил обвиняемых к пяти годам лишения свободы. В конце января судовые охранники решили обжаловать приговор и ходатайствовать об освобождении под залог. Суд 29 февраля отклонил ходатайство об освобождении под залог, но продолжит рассмотрение жалобы на заседании 1 июня.

11 january 2016

The 14 Estonian ship guards sentenced to five years in prison in India on January 11 have decided to appeal the decision, Estonian Ambassador to India Vilja Lubi told ERR. According to Lubi, the Estonian seamen appealed the decision to Madurai court. The court will take its time to review the appeal and announce its decision to the authorities of Tamil Nadu, he said. Lubi added that the British and Ukrainian ship guards have also decided to appeal the Tuticorin court decision. The 35-strong crew of AdvanFort's anti-piracy vessel Seaman Guard Ohio, including 14 Estonians and another six EU-citizens, were sentenced to five years in prison on January 11 on arms violation and other charges. The decision to appeal means that the men will not be able to ask for pardon or be exchanged for Indian prisoners in Estonia until the decision has been finalized. “On a political level we can ask India to speed up the proceedings but we cannot influence their outcome,” Estonian Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand said after the five-year sentence was announced over two weeks ago. She added that Estonian will support its citizens regardless. The seamen have been in India since October 11, 2013.

Seaman Guard Ohio

In October 2013 MV Seaman Guard Ohio, were arrested and imprisoned without charge for straying into Indian waters whilst carrying what Indian police claimed to be illegal weapons without permission. Despite providing all weapons’ certification and the relevant paperwork proving they were providing maritime security to merchant vessels and protecting seafarers in some of the most dangerous seas in the world, they have now been found guilty of these crimes and jailed for 5 years. The men are innocent under international maritime law and experienced maritime lawyers support our case. There has been a gross miscarriage of justice. The crew have already spent 9 months in prison in the last 2 and half years. A charge was finally filed against them in January 2014. They were then released on bail, and began to fight to prove their innocence, which they did successfully. All charges were dropped by the Madras High Court in July 2014 leaving them free to return home. Unfortunately this was not the case. The Indian authorities held their passports and documents stopping them from returning home to their loved ones and denying their freedom. The Indian Q Branch police lodged an appeal to have their charges re-instated and a full trial was ordered by the Supreme Court. After a long and mentally torturing wait the trial began in September 2015 in Tuticorin Magistrate’s court, in the port where they were first arrested. On the 11th of January 2016 our hearts sank; our brothers, husbands, Sons, and fathers were given a guilty verdict and sentence to 5 years ‘rigorous imprisonment’. Not one of us or the people involved could have seen this verdict coming. All the evidence to prove their innocence was submitted in court, the trial had gone in their favour from day one, and most importantly, they were innocent. The devastation and anguish this has caused us, the families, is huge. It has left us crushed and with little hope. The company the crew were working for – US company Advanfort - have completely abandoned them and have now disappeared. They have not paid any of the crew’s wages since October 2013 and have left both the men and their families in great financial difficulty. We are now faced with the heavy burden of paying yet more legal fees in order to fight this Injustice with a second appeal and bring our men home. We understand fully that one country cannot intervene in another’s judicial process, but when innocent men are being prosecuted for a crime they have not committed, then the British government have an obligation to protect the human rights and freedom of these men and actively support their release to enable them to be brought home. These men have devoted their lives to protecting others. To unfairly punish them is unacceptable. We ask you all today to help us. We call on all of you who understand the global shipping industry, who have faced the reality of piracy and the devastating effect that it has on seafarers’ lives, we ask you to please speak out for them. To speak out for all the wrongly imprisoned, honest, hardworking men of the MV Seaman Guard Ohio in India – all 35 men from India, Ukraine, Estonia and the United Kingdom.