GSLP/Libs has declared that the launch of a formal investigation by a judge in La Linea into the Easter Sunday incident at sea between the RG Police and the Guardia Civil “adds insult to injury” and complicates further “an already tense situation.”
The Opposition states that it is “absolutely incredible that the RGP should be cast as the villains of the piece when everybody knows that it was the Guardia Civil who were acting outside their jurisdiction.”
For the GSLP/Libs it is unacceptable that the actions of the RGP “should now be scrutinised by a foreign judge who has no jurisdiction in our waters.”
“We fully back the RGP and the other agencies present during this incident. The Guardia Civil have claimed that one of their officers was injured as well as one of the suspected smugglers. They have also claimed that one of their launches was damaged by the RGP. This version of events has not been accepted locally.
“It was also particularly bizarre that the Spanish Government should have protested to the UK when it was the Guardia Civil who exercised judicial competence in waters that are not Spanish. Moreover, it should be obvious that a judge based in La Linea has no jurisdiction in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.”
The Opposition says it is important to remain vigilant on this issue recalling that some years ago a judge in Spain assumed jurisdiction in the Odyssey saga.
“It is imperative that the statutory obligations and jurisdictional competence which Gibraltar exercises over its territorial sea is not undermined in any way.”
The Opposition recall that there was no such investigation here when armed Civil Guards entered the land territory of Gibraltar or when the Guardia Civil and the RGP clashed in the Bay “and a suspect was removed from the latter’s lawful custody.”
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