Damage to cables in Baltic Sea: Finnish court issues unexpected ruling
Photo: In Finland, the court refused to hear charges against the crew members of Eagle S (marinetraffic.com)
Finland has no jurisdiction to prosecute the captain and two of his assistants from the oil tanker Eagle S of Russia's shadow fleet, who were accused of damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, this was ruled by the Helsinki District Court, according to Yle.
According to the court ruling issued on October 3, the Finnish state must cover the sailors’ legal costs, which amount to approximately €195,000.
The prosecutor had demanded that the Eagle S captain, Davit Vadatchkoria, and his assistants, Robert Egizaryan and Santush Kumar Chaurasia, be sentenced to at least 2.5 years of unconditional imprisonment.
During the trial, the Eagle S shipowner’s lawyer and the defendants emphasized that Finland had no jurisdiction over the case. The district court has now upheld this position.
What happened to the cables in the Baltic Sea
On December 25, Finland reported damage to an undersea power cable connecting it with Estonia, located in the Baltic Sea. The Finnish national grid operator, Fingrid, stated that the Estlink 2 submarine power cable, which links Finland and Estonia, had been damaged.
Later, it was revealed that two communication cables belonging to the Elisa group and one belonging to CITIC Telecom were also affected.
The cause of the malfunction has not yet been determined, and an investigation is currently underway.
On December 26, the media reported that Finnish authorities were investigating the case of an oil tanker, which is believed to be part of Russia's shadow fleet.
In addition, Finnish President Alexander Stubb called on the world to counter the risks posed by vessels from Russia's shadow fleet.
