US forces can 'abduct' individuals in Scotland, says Aamer Anwar, lawyer of detained oil tanker captain

The lawyer representing the captain of a seized oil tanker believes that both the UK Government and the Scottish Government’s actions show US forces are allowed to “abduct individuals” from Scotland.

Avtandil Kalandadze was at the helm of the Marinera when it was intercepted by the US in the North Atlantic earlier this month. The United States has accused the vessel of breaching economic sanctions by carrying oil for Venezuela, Russia and Iran.

The ship, previously known as Bella 1, was boarded south of Iceland and is now in the Moray Firth.

Lawyers instructed by Mr Kalandadze’s wife, Natia, alleged that the Georgian citizen may have been unlawfully detained without charge. She asked them to raise an action in the Court of Session, Scotland’s highest civil court.

An interim interdict was granted by Judge Lord Young on Monday evening, preventing UK and Scottish authorities from removing the captain from Scotland pending further court proceedings.

However, during the early hours of Tuesday morning, Mr Kalandadze and his first mate departed UK waters on a US Coast Guard vessel.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar believes the move sets a “bad precedent”.

He told STV News: “It’s a total disregard for international law, our treaty obligations, for the rules of extradition.

A total of 21 crew members were taken to Aberdeen. Jasper Images

“It’s basically saying that the US military, not in Venezuela, not in Africa, not in Iraq or Iran, but can step foot in Scotland, in the UK and abduct individuals, illegally detain them.

“If its not going their way, they will just abduct them and take them. That is not civilised.”

The 26 crew members were processed at the Army Reserve Centre in Inverness. Five voluntarily decided to travel to the US from Lossiemouth while the other 21 were transferred to Aberdeen to travel to other countries.

Anwar thinks the authorities in the UK and Scotland failed to “protect these men’s rights”.

The lawyer added: “In this country we abide by the rule of law.

“In this incident it is shameful that the Lord Advocate, the UK Government, the Scottish Government failed to take action to protect these men’s rights.

“They were illegally detained, they did not know what they were being held under from January 7, nothing was done.”

The UK Government said: “Deterring, disrupting, and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government. Alongside our allies, we are stepping up our response to shadow vessels – and we will continue to do so.

“At the request of the US authorities, crew members have been allowed to disembark for onwards travel. They will be processed in line with all appropriate immigration and legal requirements.”

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.