Eleven Portuguese sailors of the NRP Mondego warship were acquitted, who in March last year refused to sail from the Madeira archipelago on an observation cruise following a Russian naval unit. Men will be able to claim compensation.
The case was handled by the Chief Administrative Court. The trial judge ruled on Thursday that during the 2023 trial that ended with disciplinary penalties, the defendants were not properly informed by their commander about their rights and obligations.
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Moreover, according to the court, the imposed penalty was imposed contrary to the procedures because “the defendants did not exercise their right to provide explanations after completing additional evidentiary activities.”
The acquittal of the seafarers means that they will be able to claim compensation for the disciplinary penalty imposed on them, which consisted in suspending them from their duties for a period of 10 to 90 days.
On Thursday evening, naval authorities Portugal announced that they would appeal against the ruling.
Russian ships in the Black Sea. Illustrative photo Shutterstock
They refused to follow the Russians
On March 11, 2023, a Russian navy ship appeared north of the Madeira archipelago.
Despite the order to monitor the course of this unit, part of the crew of the Portuguese patrol vessel NRP Mondego refused to go on an observation cruise after the Russian ship. They claimed that they refused to obey the order because sailing on the mission was risky due to the poor technical condition of the ship. The inspection carried out at NRP Mondego in 2023 did not confirm that the unit was unsuitable for a cruise.
Since the explosion war in Ukraine in February 2022, the Portuguese army repeatedly sent patrol units to monitor the course of ships of the Russian navy that appeared near the territorial waters of this country or in waters under its jurisdiction.
Main photo source: Shutterstock