Suspect freed  after rape on Panama flagged ship

A  17-year-old British minor was allegedly raped by an 18-year-old Italian national on the Panamanian-flagged passenger ship MSC Divina , on April, 11  during the voyage from Palma de Mallorca to Valencia, Spain but a Spanish judge freed the alleged aggressor.

The  Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) reported that after hearing the report and in compliance with  the Criminal Procedure Code, it formally denounced the facts and forwarded the documents to the Attorney General.

An AMP press release says that according to data provided by the British Foreign Office to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Panama before the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Spanish judicial authority released the alleged author justifying that the case is not his competence due to the nationality of the ship.

The AMP requested the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs to evaluate the position taken by the Spanish judge, since the alleged aggressor was ordered to be released despite the fact that after the vessel arrived at the port of Valencia, the captain alerted the  authorities of the occurrence occurred and allowed the police to board the cruise to arrest the Italian.

The AMP recalled that Article No. 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states: “The criminal jurisdiction of the coastal State should not be exercised on board a foreign vessel that passes through the territorial sea to arrest any person or conduct any investigation in relation to an offense committed on board said vessel during its passage, except in the following cases: When the captain of the ship or a diplomatic agent or consular officer of the flag State have requested the assistance of the local authorities