The Diplomat
Jonathan Sánchez, skipper of the La Línea de la Concepción fishing boat ‘Mi Daniela’, which was harassed by Gibraltar patrol boats last summer, said yesterday that he felt helpless and requested the help of the Spanish Government, after having been summoned to appear before the Court. of the Rock on December 1st.
A patrol boat from the Royal Police of Gibraltar boarded the Cadiz fishing boat at dawn last Friday to hand-deliver to Jonathan Sánchez the notification from the Gibraltarian Court for several charges related to the use of nets to capture “wild animals”, the obstruction of a public official and fishing for an endangered species.
The summons, set for December 1, is a consequence of the complaints filed last summer against Sánchez for fishing in the waters surrounding the Rock.
Jonathan Sánchez told journalists yesterday that he was “defenceless by the Government of Spain” and affirmed that it is the state administration that, he said, “must give me protection.” In that sense, he asked that legal advice be provided since Gibraltar “only accepts English lawyers” with the cost that this may entail for this fisherman who has been denouncing “the harassment” of the Rock’s authorities for months, Europa Press reports.
Regarding the trial, he noted that he hopes that lawyers for both parties can reach an agreement that avoids his appearance. “I hope they solve something now and let me fish in peace,” he said, denouncing that “one day after” receiving the notification in hand, he went out fishing and again met with boats from Gibraltar to dissuade him from his task.
The fisherman from Linares reported the first conflicts with the Rock in August of this year, when Environmental agents began “harassment” against him for fishing in waters that Gibraltar claims to be its own but that the Government of Spain has stated in more than an occasion that are Spanish territorial waters.
A month after the first altercations began, there were numerous statements and statements from politicians such as the mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, or the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, in which they requested an end to this harassment, although The same fisherman reported that they had not contacted him to offer their support.
Yesterday he expressed his desire for “the politicians to settle down and reach an agreement” that would exempt him from the charges for which Gibraltar has denounced him.
