Two women are desperate to secure the release of their seafarer husbands from a Turkish prison where they have each served just over 12 months of 30-year sentences for alleged drug crimes.
Chief officer Ali Albokhari and Captain Marko Bekavac were jailed for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs into Turkey on board a dry bulk vessel on which they worked. They claim they are innocent.
From her home in Helsinki, Finland, Elena Albokhari is contacting journalists, seafarer charities, lawyers and anyone who can help her raise awareness of her husband’s plight and get his sentence overturned.
In Croatia, Katja Bekavac is doing the same.
The women claim the lengthy sentences were issued without a fair trial and proper disclosure of evidence, and that investigators used heavy-handed tactics, including beatings.
They now hope to overturn the convictions at an appeal.
Their stories, and those of others caught up in similar cases, centre on ships being used to smuggle drugs with the crew being potential scapegoats.
Their plight was highlighted in December when seafarer unions proposed new guidelines to offer “special protection” to crew members after a series of high-profile cases involving accusations of accidents, pollution and smuggling indicated gaps in the current safety nets.
The guidelines aim to:
- Set out the responsibilities to treat seafarers fairly when detained on suspicion of committing crimes, for flag states, port and coastal states, shipowners and the state of which the seafarer is a national
- Provide support, including access to consular services, their union, legal assistance and specify the importance of non-custodial measures during an investigation
- Emphasise the fundamental human rights of seafarers and the need to treat seafarers with respect and dignity at all times
- Call for the strengthening of cooperation among flag states, the states of nationality of seafarers, the port state where the seafarers are investigated or detained, and with shipowners and seafarers’ unions
- Agree that seafarers need to be made aware of the risks of incriminating themselves, and the options available should they end up in a situation where they are investigated or detained
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson, spokesman for the International Labour Organization’s seafarers’ group, said: “These guidelines are intended to ensure that seafarers … are treated fairly during any investigation or detention by public authorities.
“Due to the global operations of the shipping industry and the many different jurisdictions that impact on seafarers, ‘special protection’ must be afforded to them when it comes to contact with public authorities.”
The new guidelines are tipped to be endorsed by the International Maritime Organization next month.
That special protection was missing when Marko and Ali embarked on their ill-fated voyage onboard the 34,399-dwt Phoenician-M (ex-Clipper Palma, built 2010) in 2023.
Absent protection
The vessel had just been bought by Phoenician Shipping/Iskenderun Gemi, based in Turkey, and needed a fresh crew.
Elena said: “My husband needed work so he took the job. Even then he complained about the condition of the vessel.”
According to Equasis, the vessel has a poor history of inspections.
The year the seafarers joined the Phoenician-M, UK authorities identified 14 deficiencies on the ship, leading to an 11-day detention.
That same year, the ship sailed for Colombia to load a full cargo of coal, and it was there that things began to get murky for all onboard.
In a brief yet emotional handwritten statement seen by TradeWinds, Marko recounted the extraordinary events that led to his incarceration.
He described his efforts to enhance security in Colombia, including installing cameras, and questioned why no guards were present during the first three nights of continuous cargo operations.
Marko recalled first hearing about the discovery of drugs on the Phoenician-M in Colombia, noting that the package bore the emblem of a top Turkish football club. Ali managed to capture photos of it.
Marko described how the crew were questioned onshore and on board before all were released to sail to Turkey, where their troubles got worse.
During discharge in Turkey, it was claimed a second stash of drugs, allegedly cocaine, was found in one of the cargo holds under the consignment of coal.
After that, Elena and Katja lost all contact with their husbands. Even the crewing agency claimed to have no access to those being held.
The wives subsequently learned their husbands had been arrested.
Elena was advised to await a court hearing rather than go public to raise awareness, something she now regrets.
When she did eventually hear from her husband, Ali described the horror of the crew’s arrest.
Elena said: “The crew were all locked up without the opportunity to wash nor eat.
“They were simply informed that drugs were found. They never saw them. [Then the authorities] locked them in the mess and arrested the captain. Everyone’s phones and computers were taken away.”
In researching this story, TradeWinds discovered that this is by no means an isolated case. Here are a handful of examples.
- TradeWinds uncovered court documents that ordered the release of two Chinese seafarers who were arrested in Turkey on drug smuggling charges in 2021. They endured four years in captivity before the court said there was no evidence to keep them locked up.
- The International Transport Workers’ Federation has been campaigning on behalf of four Ukrainian seafarers since 2022. They were detained without charge by Turkish authorities when their container ship, the 3,400-teu MSC Capucine R (built 2001), berthed at Iskenderun. Authorities broke a custom-sealed container and found 176 kg of cocaine. The accusation was that crew members knew about the drugs.
- TradeWinds has also heard of an Indian crew arrested in November 2023. Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya posted a video of Turkish divers inspecting the 176,000-dwt bulker Berge Torre (built 2011) where he said more than 51 kg of cocaine was found in the ship’s chain locker. He said some of the crew were being questioned.
The ITF and other charities have confirmed they are aware of the above cases. They remain wary of speaking too publicly as they work in Turkey to secure seafarers’ release, especially for those who feel abandoned by the shipowners they were working for.
‘I am innocent’
Since the arrests, Elena and Katja have felt helpless but have visited their husbands in prison and raised funds to launch an appeal.
Elena told TradeWinds she had tried to contact the wives and family members of other crew members, but the shipping company and vessel manager had declined to help her.
TradeWinds has approached the Turkish owner of the Phoenician-M but has had no response.
Elena also claims she has been pressured by local Turkish journalists to keep quiet about her husband’s plight.
According to some working in Turkey, there is a risk of corruption, and being too critical of the authorities while appealing sentences can backfire.
In his five-page statement, Marko’s handwriting, in capital letters, is tight, with the description of events swaying from fact to emotion and shock.
In it, he pleads his innocence, describing how the cargo was loaded in Colombia using local stevedores, and that it was impossible to access the cargo holds where he was subsequently told the police found the stash of cocaine.
Marko’s words convey his disbelief at the treatment he has received from the companies and countries involved.
He wrote: “They arrested me on 6 October 2023. It is unbelievable, I do not understand after so many years of experience [working] around the world as a captain.
“How can this be justice? I am innocent and captured in a Turkish prison.”(Copyright)
