Prime Minister Theresa May To Raise Issue Of 6 Ex-british Soldiers Jailed In India

[Hindustani78]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...iers-jailed-in-india/articleshow/55206461.cms

By PTI | Updated: Nov 02, 2016, 05.36 PM IST

LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May will raise with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi the issue of six former British soldiers lodged in a Tamil Nadu jail during her upcoming visit to India.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson today confirmed to the families of the ex-soldiers sentenced for carrying arms on a commercial ship that the issue will feature in May's bilateral talks during her three-day visit to New Delhi and Bengaluru starting this Sunday.

"We recognise what a difficult time this is for those involved and we have taken significant action on this case. The Prime Minister has been clear that she intends to raise it with Prime Minister Modi during her visit next week," the spokesperson said.

The Foreign Office also highlighted that the Indian-origin Foreign Office minister for Asia, Alok Sharma, had also "pressed for progress" on the issue during his first official visit to India in July, and again last month.

Earlier this year, the then-Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire had travelled to India to meet the men personally.

The Foreign Office said it continues to provide ongoing support to all six men and their families and is "working to make sure the men's welfare is protected in prison".

However, Lisa Dunn, the sister of Nick Dunn -- one of the jailed men, said May must not "waste" all her time talking about trade deals while in India.

"Theresa May has the power to end this now, and that's what we want her to do. She cannot waste this opportunity face-to-face with Modi, she has six British men at her mercy, and can't just waste it talking about her trade deals," Dunn told BBC.

"These were six British soldiers who served this country and they need help. It's an absolute travesty if she fails to raise it. The power is in her hands and we're begging her for help," she said.

The men were arrested in 2013 among 35 crew members and sentenced by a Tamil Nadu court to five years in prison in January this year for carrying unlicensed firearms.

An appeal has been lodged against their sentences, but a judge in Chennai ruled the men cannot be released on bail.

They were held while working for an anti-piracy security company protecting commercial ships off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. All six men have consistently maintained their innocence.

Joanne Tomlinson, the sister of another jailed ex-soldier -- John Armstrong, said that while the men have had consular support from the Foreign Office, "we feel there is so much more they can do".

"They have spent more than 18 months in prison now, and we feel there must be more diplomatic pressure that can be put on (India). Six of our veterans are imprisoned there. They should be speeding the legal process up," she said.

The men -- Dunn, Armstrong, Billy Irving, Ray Tindall, Paul Towers, and Nicholas Simpson -- have been backed by more than 20 British MPs, including former British Premier David Cameron.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

 

[Tshering22]

You can't traffic arms in another country after declaring that you are a cargo ship with no weapons.

Simple.

UK, US or any other country, rules remain the same.

 

[Hindustani78]

You can't traffic arms in another country after declaring that you are a cargo ship with no weapons.

Simple.

UK, US or any other country, rules remain the same.

This is an issue of Indian Soveriginity.

Republic of India do have law similar like any other country.

They have spent more than 18 months in prison now


An appeal has been lodged against their sentences, but a judge in Chennai ruled the men cannot be released on bail.

For how much long these 6 British citizens were sentenced ?

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

Lol. Even US ex military are jailed along with those men's. Its fine. They can raise it as they have to play with domestic audience. The case hearing is not being dragged like in the case of Italian marines. They have been lodged in jail since 2013 and will be released in less than 2 years. So keep calm.

 

[Hindustani78]

Lol. Even US ex military are jailed along with those men's. Its fine. They can raise it as they have to play with domestic audience. The case hearing is not being dragged like in the case of Italian marines. They have been lodged in jail since 2013 and will be released in less than 2 years. So keep calm.

The Coast Guard intercepted the vessel on October 12, 2013, about 15 nautical miles from Tuticorin, 650km from here. It escorted the ship with the 35 people on board to the Tuticorin port. Of the 25 security guards arrested, six are British, 14 Estonian, one Ukrainian and four Indian.

In January 2016, all the 35 members of the ship were sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment for violating international maritime border rules and entering Indian waters without valid documents. They were also sentenced to two years in jail under the Arms Act for carrying weapons in Indian territorial waters without permission. The sentences are to run concurrently.

AdvanFort, the US company that owned the ship, gave no legal help to the men.

 

[Hindustani78]

Prime Minister's Office
03-November, 2016 19:29 IST
British Prime Minister speaks to the Prime Minister on telephone


Rt. Hon. Theresa May, British Prime Minister made a telephone call to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today.

The two Prime Ministers exchanged greetings on the occasion of the festival of Diwali, celebrated recently.

Both leaders agreed that there is substantial scope for further strengthening bilateral cooperation across a range of sectors, including Science & Technology, Finance, Trade & Investment, and Defence & Security.

The Prime Minister said that he is looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister May in India next week, which will be her first substantive bilateral visit outside Europe.

***

 

[Indika]

AdvanFort, the US company that owned the ship, gave no legal help to the men.

Thats fishy.
Fact is that UK is home to several absconding criminals from India and they take no action. Whereas we need to release the criminals caught inside our maritime boundary ? They simply need to be ignored and shown their place. Seems the italian soldiers case must have encouraged them to take this step of subverting justice. Let the law prevail.

 

[Hindustani78]

Thats fishy.
Fact is that UK is home to several absconding criminals from India and they take no action. Whereas we need to release the criminals caught inside our maritime boundary ? They simply need to be ignored and shown their place. Seems the italian soldiers case must have encouraged them to take this step of subverting justice. Let the law prevail.

MEA have already raised the issue with UK counter parts and here its more about the extradition treaty.

 

[Indika]

MEA have already raised the issue with UK counter parts and here its more about the extradition treaty.

yeah we keep talking about those things for years together but nothing happens. They say human rights , not crime under our law,evidence not admissible, no death penalty blah..blah..etc and dont hand over the criminals.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/579440/uk-changes-visa-policy-indian.html
UK changes visa policy, Indian techies to be hit
Nov 5, 2016, London, PTI

In a crackdown to curb its soaring immigration figures, the UK government has announced changes to its visa policy for non-EU nationals, which will affect a large number of Indians, especially IT professionals.

Under the new visa rules announced on Thursday evening by the UK Home office, anyone applying after November 24 under the Tier 2 intra-company transfer (ICT) category would be required to meet a higher salary threshold requirement of 30,000 pounds from the earlier 20,800 pounds.

The ICT route is largely used by Indian IT companies in Britain, and the UK’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) had found earlier this year that Indian IT workers accounted for nearly 90% of visas issued under this route.

The changes come just a couple of days before British Prime Minister Theresa May lands in India on Sunday on a three-day visit.

“The first of two phases of changes to Tier 2, announced by the government in March following a review by the Independent Migration Advisory Committee, will affect applications made on or after November 24, unless stated otherwise,” a UK Home office statement said.

Besides the Tier 2 ICT salary threshold hike, the other changes announced include increasing the Tier 2 (general) salary threshold for experienced workers to 25,000 pounds, with some exemptions; reducing the Tier 2 (ICT) graduate trainee salary threshold to 23,000 pounds and increasing the number of places to 20 per company per year; and closing the Tier 2 (ICT) skills transfer sub-category.

A number of changes have also been announced for the Tier 4 category, which covers maintenance requirements for the Doctorate Extension Scheme.

“(Immigration) is not serving to increase the incentive to employers to train and upskill the UK workforce. Ready access to a pool of skilled IT professionals in India is an example of this,” the MAC report had said in its findings.

“We did not see any substantive evidence of long-standing reciprocal arrangements whereby UK staff are given the opportunity to gain skills, training and experience from working in India,” it noted.

The MAC had said that the evidence indicated that multinational companies with a presence in India had developed a competitive advantage in delivering IT projects in the UK. “They have developed a delivery model, whereby significant elements of projects are delivered offshore in India, taking advantage of the fact that Indian salaries are lower than in the UK for equivalent workers.

New visa policy

Indian IT workers account for nearly 90% of visas under ICT
Changes come just before British PM’s India visit
Increase in Tier 2 (general) salary threshold
Higher salary threshold requirement of 30,000 pounds under ICT

 

[Hindustani78]

MADURAI November 30, 2016 01:17 IST
Updated: November 30, 2016 07:50 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...im-in-hospital-say-police/article16727381.ece

Captain of MV Seaman Guard Ohio, who is suffering from prostate cancer, had appealed to the HC

: The ‘Q’ branch Criminal Investigation Department has informed the Madras High Court Bench here that there was no provision in the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules, 1983 to permit the wife of convicted prisoner M. Dudnik Valentyn (66), an Ukrainian national and captain of US anti-piracy vessel MV Seaman Guard Ohio, to attend to him at Apollo Cancer Institute in Chennai where he was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

In a counter affidavit filed in response to the captain’s plea to permit his wife to stay with him in the private hospital, S. Unni Krishnan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Q branch CID, listed out the provisions of Tamil Nadu Prison Rules with respect to handling issues related to foreign nationals lodged in prisons in the State either as remand prisoners or as convicts and said that there was no provision to accept the convict’s request.

According to the DSP, Rule 532 requires the Superintendent of the prison concerned to inform the Ministry of External Affairs, the State Government and the Consulate immediately if any foreign national was committed to the prison and that any communication addressed to the Consulate concerned by the prisoner should be forwarded without any undue delay, subject to censorship rules applicable to such communications.

What Rule 529 says

While other rules deal with permitting interview between officials of the Consulate and the foreign prisoners, Rule 529 dealing with place of interview alone touches upon illness of prisoners and states: “If a prisoner is seriously ill, the Superintendent shall permit the interview to take place in the prison hospital.” Apart from these, there was no provision in the prison rules to grant permission as requested by the petitioner, the DSP said.

He also said that a similar stand had been taken by prison officials and annexed a letter written to the Q branch police by the Superintendent of Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai where the captain was lodged since January 12. In the letter, the Superintendent had said the convict was diagnosed with prostate cancer after he complained of abdominal pain and rushed to the Government Royapettah Hospital on August 7.

Subsequently, the High Court, on September 29, directed the prison officials to shift him to a private hospital of his choice, and hence, he was taken to the Apollo Cancer Institute after the intervention of the Embassy of UkraineAfter the filing of the counter affidavit, the counsel for the convict gave up his plea and agreed to argue the main appeal filed by the captain challenging his conviction by a Thoothukudi court on January 11.

Justice A.M. Basheer Ahamed began hearing arguments advanced by him as well the counsel for 34 other convicts who included two more Ukrainians, six British nationals, 14 Estonians and 12 Indians imposed with five years of rigorous imprisonment by the trial court for being on board the anti-piracy vessel detained by Coast Guard on October 12, 2013 on the charge of entering the Indian territorial waters illegally with a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

The arguments would continue on Wednesday too. On March 1, Justice V.S. Ravi (since retired) had refused to suspend the sentence of the 35 convicts and release them on bail.