No.: 49/98
Date: 15 March 1998
The Chief Minister Peter Caruana was contacted in Rome and the Government later issued the following statement:
The Gibraltar Government takes a most serious view of this incident which appears to amount to a premeditated and orchestrated challenge to British sovereignty of Gibraltar waters and to the validity in those waters of the laws of Gibraltar.
The Gibraltar Government will not tolerate such action and fully supports the Royal Gibraltar Police in the assertion of sovereignty and in the enforcement of our laws.
The Government is also concerned about the interventions by Spanish law enforcement agencies against the Royal Gibraltar Police in their enforcement of laws within Gibraltar. The Chief Minister considers the behaviour of the SVA, putting at risk the lives of Gibraltar policemen, to be reckless, unprofessional and irresponsible conduct.
This is an intolerable event and the Gibraltar Government will make strong representations to the British Government to ensure that there is no repetition of the incident and that the necessary protest is made and in order that MOD assets should be deployed in support of the RGP to enforce sovereignty and jurisdiction.