Captain of oil tanker linked to Russias shadow fleet will face trial in France

Paris (AP) – Captain An oil tanker In a statement on Thursday, a French prosecutor said that President Emmanuel Macron would be tried in February for allegedly refused to cooperate on the Atlantic coast of which he was connected to Russia.

Macron claimed that the tanker belongs Russia’s so -called shadow fleet Aging tankers with uncertain ownership avoiding the western sanctions of Moscow War in Ukraine and did not ignore that it could be included Drone flights through Denmark Last week he was sailing on the banks of the Scandinavian country.

When asked if the tanker is connected to drone flights, Macron said, “I am very cautious because our services and justice are still working … I don’t exclude this, but I can’t clearly attribute it here and I can’t make a clear connection between these two phenomena.” He said.

Talking at A European Summit Copenhag, Macron in Denmark, said that the French Navy encountered “inappropriate and extremely aggressive behaviors ve towards the French frigate, and that he encountered helicopters deployed to ride the buyer and justified the opening of the judicial investigation.

Western Port City Brest Prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger said that two Chinese crew members who have been detained since Tuesday were released from the police custody of the captain and the head of the captain and the headmate. The chef friend was released free of charge.

After the Atlantic Maritime Prefect warned the justice authorities on Monday, a preliminary investigation was opened for the “refusal to cooperate” and “the ship does not justify its nationalities”. The investigation showed that the captain could not be considered directly responsible for the second crime.

Kellenberger said that members of the French navy intervened on the Atlantic Coast of France on Saturday and that the ship appeared in accordance with the international law when it appeared as an inconsistency between visible nationality and real nationality.

An investigation led by the French navy concluded that the ship from Russia did not fly to India with a “great oil shipment”.

Captain was called on February 23rd to be tried in Brest. Up to a year imprisonment and a fine of 150,000-Euro ($ 176,000).

French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said the ship was ordered to remain in a safe area.

On Thursday, in the comments in Copenhagen, Macron praised the French Navy to ön defining the presence of the shadow fleet ”.

“You kill these ships even for days or weeks, killing the business model and forcing them to organize them differently,” he said.

Macron said that Russia’s war efforts were “financed by the income of the shadow fleet of 30 to 40%”.

“It represents more than 30 billion euros. Therefore, it is very important to increase the pressure in this shadow fleet, because it will clearly reduce the capacity to finance this war for Russia,” he said.

Macron said the ship, which was detained by Estonia earlier this year for the same flag problem of the ship, was “exactly the same”.

In April, Estonian public publisher EE said that the ship, which was later defined under the name of “kiwala, was stopped on the way to the Russian Luga Port outside the Gulf of Tallinn. At that time, Prime Minister Kristen Mical published on social media that Estonia’s Navy was “detained a sanctioned ship without the flag state” and without specifying that the authorities boarded the ship.

The ship, now known as “Pushpa” or “Boracay ,, abandoned the Russian oil terminal in Primorsk near St. Petersburg on September 20, and set sail on the coast of Denmark. According to the sea traffic monitoring website, since Sunday, the French West has remained on the banks of the port of Saint-Nazaire.

Tanker, whose name has changed several times, sailed under the ben’s flag and is on the list of ship sanctions against Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who was asked by journalists about it, said that it was “no information de on board. He also said that many countries have carried out “provocative actions against Russia against Russia.

The shadow fleet has been used frequently by non -respected organizations, which are the addresses of countries that do not approve of Russia, and consist of aging tankers. Their roles are to help Russia’s oil exporters escape from the price limit given by Ukrainian allies.

Angela Charlton in Paris, Manchester, Katie Marie Davies in England, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Lorne Cook in Copenhagen contributed to the story in Copenhagen.