Peter Devlin and colleagues - Spain

January 06

This month we spotlight the plight of commercial diver Peter Devlin (on the left of the photograph, with Malcolm Cubin, centre, and Steve Russ on the right)  who ran a salvage company called ‘Force 9 Salvage’ and who, with his colleagues, became the victim of animosities between local authorities and the central Spanish government.

Force 9 Salvage had been issued a licence by the Spanish government to extract 200 tons of tin ingots from a Dutch vessel that sank off Corrubedo in Galicia in 1877. Peter chose an experienced team of commercial divers. After 3 years of research and planning, the men traveled to Galicia in 2002.

The men did 4 dives, logging details and videotaping each one. As specified in their contract, they informed a Captain Gonzales of the recovered artefacts and arranged to meet him the next morning. It was decided that 2 of them would attend this meeting. But on the way, they were arrested by Guardia Civil and brought back to the house. All men were asked to stay outside, while the premises were searched by a large team of officers and a local archaeological expert. They were asked where they had hidden the gold and the diamonds they had recovered, a question which left them totally bewildered.

The police confiscated all their diving equipment, video recordings and computers and the local expert took their few artefacts with little care as to their preservation.

The men had a court hearing on 21 June 2002. They still had not been charged. The atmosphere was very intimidating atmosphere with the judge asking “How would you expect me to be treated in England?” There were questions asked about another wreck, supposedly in the vicinity. The men were also asked where they thought gold could be found. The police stated that they had come to the area under false pretences to steal gold from wrecks. The men found out that a year earlier, some Dutch divers stole several cannons from the area and further north some British divers had found some gold coins which were later sold on the internet. During that week, the men from Force 9 Salvage men were accused by local newspapers of being treasure hunters who had stolen gold.

The men were released on bail on payment of a bond. Their valuable equipment was not returned for four months. The videos and dive diaries are still held by the Spanish police. Since the men had left Spain to resume their normal lives, Peter Devlin engaged a Spanish legal team to look after his interests and those of his employees.

It was not until November 2005 that the men were informed that they had all been charged with “Damage to National heritage and theft” and would face a trial sometime in 2006. The prosecutor has requested a sentence of 3 years imprisonment for each, plus a fine and damages.

Fair Trial Issues

1. Length of investigation and delays in setting a date for trial.
2. Lack of evidence against the men.
3. It is unclear whether the men will be able to use the videos as defence evidence as they are still held by the police.
4. Concerns that the videos may have been tampered with
5. When the men were first stopped, their rights were read to them in Spanish only. The search warrant was in Spanish and no translation was ever provided.
6. The men had no legal representation during interrogation.
7. At their court hearing it appears that the judge tried to bully them into signing a Spanish copy of their own statements without providing them with an English translation so they could check the accuracy.
8. Finally, no-one disputes that all the work the divers undertook is covered by their valid contract with the Central Spanish government.
9. This seems to be a case of conflict between the Galician government and the central government in Madrid over jurisdiction rights of shipwrecks in Galician waters rather than any criminal issues, indicating that these men are being used as political pawns - at great personal cost.