25 signatures reached
To: Nicola Sturgeon
Demand the Return of Echo from Denmark
Please insist that the Danish government return the small boat Echo to Lerwick in accordance with the high court order granting a Bill Of Suspension at 3.43pm on 4th September 2015.
Why is this important?
Around 3pm on 4th September 2015 the Danish armed warship HDMS Knud Rasmussen entered Lerwick harbour and took the small boat Echo aboard before leaving for the Faroe islands half an hour later.
The Echo had been seized from the Dutch-registered Sea Shepherd ship Sam Simon on 1 September by Lerwick police at the request of the Danish authorities, in response to a letter of request issued by the Faroese chief of police on 22August.
The seizure followed the small boat’s involvement in the defense of 61 pilot whales at a grindadráp at Sandavágur on 12 August.
On Thursday police informed Sea Shepherd’s lawyers that the Echo would be held for a week, giving the lawyers time to appeal the seizure but the Danish authorities fast tracked the extradition and the Scottish police released the boat to the Danish vessel.
Insisting the small boat be returned to Lerwick at least until the appeal process is completed is an important signal to the Faroe Islands and their Danish protectors that they cannot ride roughshod over the justice system of another country without consequence.
The Echo had been seized from the Dutch-registered Sea Shepherd ship Sam Simon on 1 September by Lerwick police at the request of the Danish authorities, in response to a letter of request issued by the Faroese chief of police on 22August.
The seizure followed the small boat’s involvement in the defense of 61 pilot whales at a grindadráp at Sandavágur on 12 August.
On Thursday police informed Sea Shepherd’s lawyers that the Echo would be held for a week, giving the lawyers time to appeal the seizure but the Danish authorities fast tracked the extradition and the Scottish police released the boat to the Danish vessel.
Insisting the small boat be returned to Lerwick at least until the appeal process is completed is an important signal to the Faroe Islands and their Danish protectors that they cannot ride roughshod over the justice system of another country without consequence.
