Gibraltar apologises to Spain for 'extremely serious' RGP police incident in San Roque

GIBRALTAR/SPAIN/LA LÍNEA The Government of Gibraltar has apologised to its Spanish counterpart for the improper action of two Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) officers who searched a house in La Línea and seized evidence without permission from the Spanish authorities. The matter is already under investigation by a Spanish judge at Court Number 2 in San Roque. The matter first came to light in the media on the front page of ABC (image) and was soon taken up by the press and television, although the incident itself took place on August 4 (as we reported here with information available at the time) when a jewelry shop owner was mugged as he was opening his store. Reports differ on what happened next, but from what we are able to gather the two men allegedly involved in the mugging,>
Charles Ernest Sardeño, of Gibraltar, and Luke Gallini, a British national, took off for the border, followed by officers of the RGP. However, the RGP reported a couple of days later that two men had been arrested in the incident. They did not say that the alleged perpetrators homes in La Línea had been searched by the Rock's officers without permission from the Spanish authorities, but did mention that several items had been seized in the men's possession.

According to ABC, a Kawasaki motorbike was used in the robbery, with which the men sped off in the direction of La Línea on the morning of the mugging. On the following day the Gibraltar Chronicle published a report saying that the two had been arrested and several items confiscated from them, among which was a set of keys to a house in San Roque.

That same night, August 5 according to a court statement, two RGP officers entered the home in La Línea rented by Charles Ernest Sardeña, Gibraltarian, and his partner Rebecca Y.M. She did not allow them access, according to the statement she made to the Guardia Civil early in September.

However, the officers gained access thanks to the owner of the property, Nicholas A.V., a resident of Gibraltar, who was told that the police were seeking evidence in the robbery case, had keys to the home, and only wanted to take photos of the motorbike.

On another search the following day, in the company of the property's owner, the RGP officers took two thousand pounds, a wad of €50 bills, three motorbike helmets, a handful of keys and a rental contract for the property. According to the owner of the home himself, he drove the Kawasaki into Gibraltar escorted by the two policemen. There he was given a banking receipt for the 2,000 pounds.

There are reports that Nicholas A.V. spoke to police Commissioner Louis Wink, though there is no infornmation on the content of the conversation. RGP sources say that the police agencies on both sides of the border are in close contact regarding this incident.

Diplomatic furore

As might be expected, the matter has caused much ado on both sides of the border. The RGP has yet to issue a statement, but Government has issued an apology. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called it 'unacceptable' and has called on the British Government for clarification.

Opposition party Partido Popular is girding its loins in confirmation of what it believes is the Government's 'weakness' regarding several issues about Gibraltar, bombarding it with parliamentary questions even before this incident came to light. It will be remembered that there have been several 'incursions' by Guardia Civil units into what Gibraltar calls its waters and are otherwise claimed by Spain, with one of them resulting in the beaching of a GC boat on the Rock (see related items here).

"At a diplomatic level the incident almost mirrors the faux pas by armed Guardia Civil who charged onto Gibraltar’s shores during a chase last year when Spanish ministers apologised at the highest level," says yesterday's Gibraltar Chronicle.

Indeed, while the PP has called the matter 'extremely serious', José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's PSOE people have been careful not to make too much of the incident, although Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos issued a hard-worded statement that was ameliorised by the hope that "the climate of cooperation between the police and the courts [on both sides] brought about by Tripartite Forum can be maintained."