+++ BREAKING NEWS +++ Gunshots Off Gib – Spanish Police Detained
Tonight there have been shots fired off of Gibraltar according to witnesses, although it’s unclear at the moment who fired them or how many. Four Spanish ‘Guardia Civil’ officers have since been detained at Gib Police HQ.It seems that a Guardia Civil launch was chasing a Spanish speedboat within Gibraltar waters. The pursuit continued into Gibraltar Harbour and ended with both the speedboat and the Guardia Civil launch being grounded in the port area by ‘Harbour Views’. The Guardia then pursued the fleeing occupants of the speedboat on shore.
Gibraltar police also arrested the two men on the fast launch and took them away. Both vessels have been seized in what the police have just described as a ‘very serious’ incident.
The Spanish Government does not recognise the waters around the Rock as being British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, but the Spanish have been arrested within the waters of the port itself which even the Spanish Government recognises as having been ceded under the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, Britain’s legal title to the Rock.
Let’s see what Our Man In Madrid, Jeremy Paxman’s brother, makes of this one then….more news as soon as it comes in.
UPDATE: It seems that the Guardia officers were detained but have now been allowed to leave under instruction that they might be required to return to assist with the inquiries. The smugglers remain in custody at New Mole House. Spain’s Interior Minister Alfredo Rubalcaba has already been on the blower to apologise to the Chief Minister Peter Caruana for the “incorrect action”.
The Gibraltar Police have said: “Enquiries established that the Guardia Civil mistakenly entered Gibraltar Territorial Waters in hot pursuit and have since apologised for their actions. The 4 Spanish officers have been released pending further enquiries and handed over to the custody of the Guardia Civil Command in Algeciras. The RGP though, have retained their RIB and firearms pending further enquiries.
“The other two Spanish nationals who were subject of the chase are being investigated for the offences of importing a prohibited import [the RIB]”
Crikey!
You’re not wrong there!
“mistakenly entered Gibraltar Territorial Waters in hot pursuit ” which is a concept that I would hope UK Govt. would approve of. Why the petty confiscation of their firearms ?
Are you expecting Jeremy’s brother to get all contrite and apologetic over this ?
There is plenty of precedent under international law for hot pursuit to cross boundaries with the knowledge that apprehending a dangerous villain/terrorist etc is the priority and that the paperwork can be sorted out later. You’d wonder, though, if a couple of small-time smugglers (you can watch a score of similar boats out of your window every day doing the same thing) are important enough for sovereignty to be disregarded, or whether some junior Spanish officers were making the point of how little regard they had for that soveriegnty.
Its almost like they have picked some poor saps at random as an experiment in finding out how far they can push the envelope and it’s got a little out of hand.
As for confiscating the guns – someone has fired shots within a British Naval Base. You’d bag and tag everything especially the guns as a routine part of any investigation. Even if it had been a British soldier who had fired, his gun would be in an evidence locker right now.
The point about Jeremy’s brother is that he immediately (and incorrectly) went limp last time something happened cross-border. His reaction will tell us if we have someone in place who is always going to be a doormat whatever the rights and wrongs of any incident or if we have someone with elbows. It’s giving us a pattern of his approach to that job.
Any more news??
Everyone is in full calm-down-nothing-to-see mode. he shots were fired in the chase off-shore so the guns have been returned. The Spanish have made a full apology for young and inexperienced zealous crew without any political motive and Caruana has accepted that.
With the current tensions over the flag shooting and the EU designation of parts of our waters as a Spanish nature reserve (not helped by Whitehall putting the wrong map reference on our counterclaim) this was always likely to be swept under the carpet as a potential flashpoint which no-one wants or needs.
…you can watch a score of similar boats out of your window every day doing the same thing…
Oh, ¿Is Gibraltar a base of pirates and smugglers? :-$