Swedish court rules Russian cargo ship may be handed over to Ukraine
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A Swedish court has ruled that Russian cargo ship Caffa, seized
after transporting grain
stolen from occupied Ukrainian territory, may be handed over to Kyiv,
Reuters reported
on June 5.
The court found that the ship’s seizure in the Baltic Sea was lawful and that the vessel can be transferred to Ukrainian authorities, prosecutor Hakan Larsson said in a statement quoted by Reuters. Larsson added the decision must become final before any transfer can occur and that the ship’s owners have three weeks to file an appeal.
Swedish police and the coast guard detained Caffa in March off Sweden’s southern coast, saying the ship was sailing under a false flag and violated maritime safety laws because it was unseaworthy, Reuters reported. The owner, Caffa Shipping Limited, has challenged the detention and sought the ship’s release; a company lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Swedish authorities said most of the ship’s 11-member crew were Russian at the time of the detention. The ship-tracking site MarineTraffic lists Caffa as a 96-meter general cargo ship.
On June 4, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan
Kravchenko said the Swedish court ordered the seizure after allegations that
Caffa took part in illegally exporting Ukrainian goods from temporarily
occupied areas. This was the first time a foreign court had acted on a request
from Ukrainian prosecutors.
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