Croatian captain sentenced to 30 years in prison in Turkey, verdict not final

(Patria) - Croatian sailor, Captain Marko Bekavac, who is accused in Turkey of cocaine smuggling, after cocaine was found on his ship "Phoenician M" in the Turkish port of Eregli last year, and the ship's first officer have been provisionally sentenced to 30 years in prison each and remain in a Turkish prison.

The other eight sailors have been acquitted of charges, Neven Melvan, Secretary General of the Croatian Seamen's Union, stated in a phone conversation with Hina.

He emphasized that it is not the time for despondency, and that they should seriously prepare for the appeal and the second-instance proceedings.

Melvan added that in similar cases, first-instance verdicts have been drastic in the past.

The trial today was attended by Captain Bekavac's family members – his wife and brother – as well as Croatian Ambassador Hrvoje Cvitanović, Chargé d'Affaires at the embassy in Ankara Mario Zadro, and colleagues from the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).

- We are all in shock, it is clear that they are going for command responsibility because they are targeting the captain and the first officer - said Melvan, adding that the reasoning for the verdict has not been read and will be delivered in writing.

The legal battle must continue until an acquittal, he stressed.

Captain Marko Bekavac is accused because last year cocaine was found in the cargo of his ship "Phoenician M" in the Turkish port of Eregli.

He has been in the Turkish investigation prison in Ankara since October last year, when the police found 137 kilograms of cocaine on the ship, which was transporting coal from Colombia and sailing under the Panamanian flag.

Ten sailors were arrested at the time: six from the Philippines, one each from Finland, Poland, and Russia, and Bekavac, whom the Turkish authorities consider responsible based on command responsibility.

The ship "Phoenician M" has been allowed to sail with the remaining crew.