Greek authorities have arrested the captain of a boat that was to be part of a Gaza-bound flotilla trying to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory, officials said Saturday.
The 60-year-old captain, whose name was not released by authorities, was being held at Piraeus police headquarters and will remain there until a court hearing Tuesday.
Greece’s coast guard said the captain of the “Audacity of Hope” faces charges of trying to leave port without permission and of endangering the lives of the boat’s passengers. The latter charge is a felony.
The “Audacity of Hope” was carrying 36 passengers, four crew and about 10 members of the media. Its attempt to sail Friday night from the port of Perama, near Athens, was thwarted by coast guard speedboats.
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9 Responses
Great job. but i didn’t expect that they will have on what to prosecute them so fast!
Nice job!
Baruch Hashem
Hey charlie: I wonder why they named the boat for Obama. Don’t see any flotilla boats named George W, do you?
Well, I knew someone would try to make this a partisan issue :(.
Popa, didn’t you notice that the Obama administration OPPOSES the flotilla and supports Israel’s efforts to stop it? The people who named the boat apparently didn’t, either.
And to all the right wingers reading this: Did you notice that the current Greek Prime Minister who is keeping the flotilla in port is a Socialist?
Charlie, what is your point? Greece does app 500m in trade a year with the EY, and is looking to get a direct gas line. If money wasn’t an issue, your socialist friends wouldn’t be too friendly. Its easy to be naïve.
Charlie Hall,
Your comment #5 indicates you believe Obama opposes these flotillas. He does not.
The last time there was a conflict on the high seas with one of these flotillas, the rest of us recall that Obama called for an international investigation of Israel.
AhavasChinam,
My point is that despite the extensive trade, both the Greek Socialists and the Greek Conservatives were anti-Israel — about the only thing they agreed on other than also being anti-Turkey. Papandreou appears to have reversed this. I hope the reversal is permanent.
Just when it looked like Greece was down and out, they show their true colors as extremely decent people who care about innocent human life and who oppose terrorism. I wonder what steps Israel might be able to take to support a Greek resurgence and to change the balance of power in the Mediteranean with a military/economic/cultural alliance between Greece and Israel to counter the radical Islamist Turks.