Estonia, Legislation, Transport

The Foreign Minister handed over to the Indian ambassador a letter to Foreign Minister of India in connection with the case of Estonian ship guards.

Pentus-Rosimannus stressed at the meeting that the appeal procedures in the Indian Supreme Court should be carried out without delay. The Ambassador of India said that the Indian Embassy in Helsinki and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs are been thoroughly informed about the progress of the case and make every effort to expedite the process.

Pentus-Rosimannus said it is important that the Indian authorities allow, on humanitarian grounds, the Estonian citizens to return to their homeland for the time of the reviewing of the case in the Supreme Court of India.

"The ongoing dispute does not involve such activities, which would require the participation of the ship guards crew members or their stay in India. Therefore, we turned to the Indian authorities in order to allow the men to leave India and return to their families," emphasized Pentus-Rosimannus. According to her, the relations between Estonia and India have been good before and it is in the interests of both parties to close the case that is starting to overshadow the relations.

The minister confirmed that the Estonian ship guards case is in the focus of the Foreign Ministry and the Estonian Embassy in New Delhi attention until the detained men have come back home.

The Indian coastguard detained on October 12 last year anti-piracy ship Seaman Guard Ohio, sailing under the Sierra Leone flag, on the board of which there were 35 people. On October 18, 33 people, including 14 Estonian anti-piracy armed guards, were imprisoned for a preliminary investigation for illegally entering Indian waters as well as several other violations. The men were released on bail on April 5 but according to the conditions of the bail, the men had to stay in Chennai, India. On July 10, the Indian court withdrew all charges against the Estonian anti-piracy guards. At the end of August, the Indian police appealed the decision in the state's Supreme Court and the armed guards have still not been able to return home.