The "lessons" of the Medvedyev (Winner) judgment for piracy (update)

(BRUSSELS2) The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered an interesting judgment on 29 March (Medvedyev and others case). Admittedly, this concerns an arrest on the high seas for drug trafficking. And the legal bases are slightly different for acts of maritime piracy. But this judgment deserves a careful reading because the solutions it gives can also be applicable in this case, in particular on the jurisdiction of the Court and the immediate translation before a magistrate. Detailed analysis in the Club (subscribers).

A drug seizure case

The case dates back to June 2002. A freighter – the Winner – is suspected of carrying a large cargo of drugs, which would be transferred to speedboats off the Canary Islands before arriving on European shores. Spotted by the American, Spanish and Greek anti-narcotics services, the interception decision is taken in Paris within the OCRTIS (the Central Office for the Suppression of Illicit Drug Trafficking). The French sloop "Lieutenant de Vaisseau Le Hénaff" was dispatched to the scene by the maritime prefect, with Jaubert marine commandos and three experts from OCRTIS on board. Spotted off Cape Verde on June 13, the Winner showed all the characteristics of a suspicious boat: no flag, no response to radio calls, parcels thrown overboard... The interception was hectic: "warnings , warning shots and even shots on goal are necessary for the Winner agrees to stop. And again, on boarding, the French soldiers must " make use of their weapons to open some locked doors. One of the crew members having refused to comply with their summons, a stop or intimidation shot was fired towards the ground. A sailor is injured. Transferred to the ship Lieutenant Hénaff, then to Dakar hospital, he died a week later.. The rest of the crew is confined on board the Winner under military guard. A tug is dispatched from Brest to pick up the Winner...

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)