There are no legal grounds for seizing the vessel, claims the shipping company's representative.
"It appears that there is nothing that gives a Swedish court jurisdiction to try the alleged crime", writes lawyer Oscar Tiberg in a submission to the Stockholm District Court, referring to the fact that the vessel flies the Maltese flag.
The issue was to be tried in the Stockholm District Court on Friday afternoon, but the hearing has been cancelled. The case has been transferred to the Gotland District Court due to the suspected crime having taken place outside Gotland. A date for the hearing has not yet been announced.
The seizure has been made on legal grounds, comments prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist.
The vessel has been anchored off Karlskrona since Sunday, January 26, and onboard investigations are ongoing to investigate the suspicion of gross sabotage.
The work is ongoing, we are working at full speed, the boat is still in custody and various forms of investigative measures are being carried out, including technical investigations, says Mats Ljungqvist.
The prosecutor believes that the picture of what has happened is becoming clearer.
I can, I believe, on good grounds assert that it is this vessel that has caused this cable damage.
He hopes to be able to take a stance next week on whether there is a need to keep the vessel in custody or not. But he does not want to comment at present on whether the cable is suspected to have been damaged intentionally.
No, I cannot do that. It is covered by the secrecy of the preliminary investigation.
