Will UK government continue to ‘abandon and betray’ former soldiers jailed in India?
![Lisa Dunn, sister of Nick Dunn, one of the six Britons jailed in India for firearms charges while working to guard boats against piracy [Image: Linda Nylind for the Guardian].](https://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/160807-Lisa-Dunn.png)
Lisa Dunn, sister of Nick Dunn, one of the six Britons jailed in India for firearms charges while working to guard boats against piracy [Image: Linda Nylind for the Guardian].
Back in the day, we used to send a gunboat to blockade foreign ports until their governments treated our people right (obviously I’m paraphrasing a little, but that’s pretty much UK foreign policy during Victorian times).
What do you think Mrs May will do now?
My money’s on ‘nothing’.
The British government has “abandoned and betrayed” six former soldiers jailed in India for carrying firearms while protecting boats from pirates, the sister of one of the men has said.
The men, who were arrested in 2013, were among 35 crew members sentenced by an Indian court to five years in prison in January for carrying unlicensed firearms.
They were held while working for an anti-piracy security company protecting commercial ships off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
The men, who have been backed by more than 20 MPs including David Cameron, have consistently maintained their innocence and launched an appeal to overturn their sentences. A petition calling for their release has garnered 375,000 signatures.
Now the sister of Nick Dunn has urged Theresa May and the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, to intervene in the case amid concerns that the men’s mental state is beginning to deteriorate.
Source: UK government ‘abandoned and betrayed’ six former soldiers jailed in India | UK news | The Guardian
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I’m surprised you are supportive of what are after all a group of mercenary ex soldiers who are willing to sell their military abilities including killing people. Of course protecting shipping both commercial and pleasure should be a priority and perhaps armed security aboard ships and boats should be under discussion by constituted authorities whose interests are affected by the ruthless criminals that are exploiting vessels and murdering people in the Indian Ocean. However private militia such as this group need to be controlled as it is a very small step from ‘protection’ to more concerning military interventions as Mark Thatcher et al discovered.
Whenever I hear of ex military personnel becoming involved in ventures such as this I remember the excesses of the 60s and 70s in many African countries where civil wars were fought largely between mercenary outfits with no morality other than the mighty dollar.