Progress Being Made In Efforts To Secure Release Of Crew Of Lady Lawla radiojamaicanewsonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from radiojamaicanewsonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Paul Clarke, Gleaner Writer
Attorneys representing four Jamaican men detained by the United States Coast Guard on allegation of drug possession and who had their vessel destroyed are slamming the Government. Lead attorney Bert Samuels, speaking at a virtual press conference today, raised concerns about the circumstances which led to the detention of boat captain Anthony Clarke, Radcliffe Simmons, Howard Patterson, and Warren Rowe. On October 11, the Jamaican-registered vessel Lady Lawla was intercepted some 100 miles south of Jamaica by the US Coast Guard. At the time of the interception, Lady Lawla was in international waters, with the closest landmass being Jamaica.
Attorneys question continued detention of Jamaican boat crew in US stabroeknews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stabroeknews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lady Lawla, at sea on October 12.
Samuels, the defence lawyer for David Chin, owner of the carrier vessel, insists that its destruction was an illegal act.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday, he said that the circumstances under which the 92-foot vessel was destroyed breached Jamaica’s Maritime Drug Trafficking (Suppression) Act as well as the Shiprider Agreement between Jamaica and the United States.
“Jamaica must be concerned that within its economic zone in the Caribbean Sea, a boat has been destroyed, literally emptying thousands of gallons of fuel, waste and pollution into the sea, endangering maritime life,” he said.