The fisherman from La Línea, reported by Gibraltar, confirms that he will not attend the trial on Friday

Gibraltar & El Campo
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Jonathan Sánchez, the fisherman from La Línea reported by the authorities of Gibraltar for fishing in the waters of the Strait, has announced that he will not appear at the trial scheduled for this Friday, December 1, before the justice of the Rock, following the recommendations made by the General Secretariat of Fisheries of the Spanish Government.

Based on this, the fisherman from Cadiz has confirmed to Europa Press that he will not appear at the trial since the Spanish government considers that the disputed waters "are Spanish," and therefore "there is no reason for an individual to respond to a summons from a foreign authority."

Furthermore, he has indicated that the Spanish government is "continuing diplomatic efforts" to resolve a problem that intensified this summer when environmental agents initiated "harassment" against him for fishing in waters that Gibraltar claims as its own but that the Spanish government has stated on several occasions are Spanish territorial waters.

However, the owner of the 'Mi Daniela' vessel has expressed concern about what may happen to him if he does not respond to the summons from the Rock and in the face of a possible arrest warrant. Regarding this, he has hoped for "support" from the Spanish government to resolve his situation favorably and resume fishing without concerns. While waiting for calm, he has chosen to work for a few days in the fishing grounds of Sotogrande, away from the waters where he has experienced "harassment" by the Gibraltar authorities.

It is worth noting that Jonathan Sánchez first encountered conflicts with the Rock in August of this year 2023, leading to charges for various offenses. In October, while fishing in the early morning, a Gibraltar patrol boat boarded his vessel to hand-deliver a court notification for several charges related to the use of nets for the capture of "wild animals," obstruction of a public official, and fishing of a species endangered.

Furthermore, a month after the first altercations began, numerous statements and declarations were made by politicians such as the mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, or the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, calling for an end to this harassment, although even then, the fisherman himself complained that they had not contacted him to offer their support.

At present, the UK and Spain are immersed in negotiations for the agreement with the EU on Gibraltar. In this regard, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union, and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, stated on Tuesday that the political agreement is "practically closed," admitting that there are still "details" such as the joint use of the airport, among others that he avoided enumerating due to "diplomatic discretion," as exchanges between London and Madrid will now be handled by technical teams.

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A Spanish fisherman has failed to appear in court to face charges related to illegal fishing in Gibraltar waters.

The matter dates back to incidents this past summer in which both local and Spanish authorities were involved.

Although the Magistrates Court initially issued a further summons via recorded delivery so as to ensure receipt, it later reversed its decision and issued a warrant of arrest.

Then, this evening, the Director of Public Prosecutions expressed concern about the process followed, at his direction.

Christian Rocca spoke to the Commissioner of Police to ensure that execution of the warrant is not proceeded with for now.

The matter is expected to be re-listed before the Magistrates Court.

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The Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon issued a warrant for the arrest of a Spanish fisherman accused of fishing with nets in British waters off Gibraltar, reversing a different decision it had made just hours earlier.

Jonathan Sanchez, owner of the vessel Mi Daniela, faces charges under Gibraltar’s conservation and navigation laws and was summonsed earlier this year but did not turn up to his court hearing earlier on Friday morning.

The warrant means the fisherman faces arrest if he returns to Gibraltar waters.

But the situation is far from clear after a day filled with confusion and mixed decisions in court.

Initially during the morning hearing, the lay magistrates had ordered the summons to be served again by registered mail, with a new court date set for February 2, 2024.

The court sometimes takes this step to ensure a defendant’s failure to appear is not due to any practical issue relating to the prior service of the summons, which is usually by standard mail.

But hours after the initial ruling, the case was recalled to court where the lay bench was informed by the Crown that the summons had in fact been served by hand by RGP officers on October 27, as well as sent by mail before that.

With official confirmation that the fisherman had been served, the court took the standard step when a defendant fails to appear for a summons and issued a warrant for arrest backed by bail.

The warrant means that Mr Sanchez faces arrest if he returns to Gibraltar waters, risking a flare-up in cross-border relations at a time when the UK, Gibraltar, Spain and the EU are preparing to resume negotiations for a UK/EU treaty on the Rock’s future relations with the bloc.

But in another twist, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Christian Rocca, intervened late on Friday over concerns about the procedure followed in court.

Mr Rocca’s intervention means the case will now have to go back before the Magistrates Court to carefully review the facts and procedure followed in reaching both rulings on Friday.

“The DPP has directed that an application be made by the Crown for the matter be re-listed before the Magistrates Court to ensure, with such notice as may be possible in the circumstances to the defendant, that the process followed stands up to the rigorous scrutiny applicable in all aspects of the criminal justice system in Gibraltar,” No.6 Convent Place said in a statement.

“The DPP has brought this development to the attention of the Commissioner of Police to ensure that execution of the warrant is not proceeded with until such time as the court has all facts and matters, including procedural concerns, before it and determines how the matter should progress.”

Ahead of the Friday hearing, Mr Sanchez had told journalists he would not appear before the court.

He said Spain regards those waters as Spanish and that, under Spanish legislation, fishing with nets is legal and therefore he is doing nothing wrong.

On Thursday, Spanish media reported that Mr Sanchez had been told by the Spanish Government that the waters around Gibraltar were “subject only to Spanish laws”.

He interpreted that as Madrid supporting his argument that he need not appear before the court.

However, the Chronicle understands the Spanish Government had simply set out its traditional position on the waters, without offering any guidance as to whether he should appear before the court in Gibraltar.

For the past few weeks, the fishing vessel ‘Mi Daniela’, which is based in La Linea, has been fishing north of Gibraltar opposite Sotogrande.

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The Director of Public Prosecutions made a rare appearance in Magistrates Court this morning to make an application related to the case of a Spanish fisherman charged with illegal fishing in Gibraltar waters.

Christian Rocca expressed concern over the court’s actions on Friday, following a matter which, he said, includes a significant international component.

The following report includes footage taken from the fisherman's social media pages.

Jonathan Sanchez Castillo was scheduled to face charges in court on Friday 1st December, but failed to appear.

Speaking to Spanish media prior to that date, Mr Sanchez made clear he had no intention of going to court. He said the waters he was fishing in were Spanish, and he had not broken any Spanish law.

The lay bench that day initially re-issued a summons for the Spanish national, but the court later put out a warrant for his arrest.

In a terse exchange with Stipendiary Magistrate, Karl Tonna, the DPP said he wouldn’t want a very important case to be derailed by procedural defects.

Mr Rocca asked that the warrant be rescinded, which Mr Tonna declined to do, although he pointed out the RGP might opt not to execute the warrant until there was more clarity on the matter.

While discussing the reasoning for last Friday’s decision, it was noted that neither man had been in court when the decision was made, and the members of the lay bench were not present to explain.

As such, the transcript from that session has been requested, and the matter will return to court on Friday 15th.

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The Magistrates Court on Friday rescinded an arrest warrant for a Spanish fisherman accused of using illegal nets in British waters off Gibraltar, in part after learning he has been charged with further offences that will be dealt with in January.

The decision means all matters relating to the fisherman will be dealt with next month and that there is no arrest warrant for him at present.

Jonathan Sanchez, the owner of the vessel Mi Daniela, had been summonsed to appear in court earlier this month on charges under Gibraltar’s conservation and navigation laws.

When he failed to appear, the court issued a warrant for his arrest.

But on Friday, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Christian Rocca, KC, raised concern about the procedure followed, amid confusion as to whether the warrant had been issued on application from the Crown rather than by the court itself of its own motion, as required by law.

Mr Rocca informed the court too that Mr Sanchez had now been charged with additional alleged fishing offences on different dates and had been summonsed again to appear before the court on January 8, 2024.

He asked the court to rescind the existing warrant and deal with all outstanding matters on that date, an application that was granted by additional Stipendiary Magistrate Karl Tonna.

Mr Rocca said his concern about the procedure followed by the court in issuing the warrant was that the case had “international jurisdictional importance” for Gibraltar and that it was vital the steps followed were watertight.

If Mr Sanchez fails to appear on January 8, the court will then decide what next action to take.

“I suspect he will not appear and the court will issue a warrant of arrest [on its own motion],” Mr Rocca told the court.

Under Gibraltar’s nature conservation legislation, fishing with nets and rakes is prohibited in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.

But the fisherman says Spain regards those waters as Spanish and that under Spanish legislation, fishing with nets is legal.

He has stated repeatedly in the media that he does not recognise Gibraltar’s jurisdiction and will not attend court.

The adjournment to January 8 defuses, for the time being at least, a potential flashpoint in cross-border relations at a time when negotiators from the UK, Gibraltar, Spain and the EU are working to finalise a UK/EU treaty on the Rock’s future relations with the bloc.

It will also allow the court to analyse in detail its procedures when serving summonses to defendants who are resident outside Gibraltar, something that could have repercussions on future cases involving non-resident defendants.

Summonses are usually sent by standard mail in the first instance but this can present problems if a non-resident defendant does not appear, given the court must be certain that a summons has been received and not lost in the post before taking further action.

Mr Sanchez had been served by standard international mail initially and then subsequently in person by the Royal Gibraltar Police.

But when the case first came before the court earlier this month, the RGP had not at the time updated the court system to confirm the second step, meaning the court was initially unaware Mr Sanchez had been served in person.

The lay magistrates in that hearing first asked for the summons to be re-served by registered mail, only for the case to be recalled later that same day to update the information before the court and formally inform it that the summons had been served in person.

At this point, the magistrates issued a warrant of arrest, a standard step.

But there was confusion as to which power the warrant had been issued under, given the transcript of the session, reviewed by the court ahead of the latest hearing on Friday, suggested it had been done on application from the Crown.

Mr Rocca said this was “clearly an error” in law as the warrant should have been issued by the court itself on its own motion, prompting him to make the application for the warrant to be rescinded and for all matters including the new charges to be considered in January.

On Friday, Mr Tonna considered re-serving the arrest warrant immediately using the court’s powers but opted instead to handle all matters together, including submissions on the process that should be followed when summonsing defendants who are not resident in Gibraltar.