Proving sabotage is difficult and requires significant evidence or testimonies to support the finding, say investigators, prosecutors and officials involved in the investigations. To issue an arrest warrant or bring a case, prosecutors must provide substantial evidence of intentional wrongdoing, rather than an accidental and unnoticed dropping of an anchor.
“Even if you show it was deliberate, it’s extremely unlikely you’ll find a paper trail linking the incident to a state actor,” said Elisabeth Braw, an expert in combat below the threshold of warfare, who is writing a book on subsea geopolitical conflict.
The difficulties of prosecuting such cases are frustrating Western officials who are trying to combat what they say is a hybrid war against critical infrastructure in the West that they blame on Russia.
“Even if you show it was deliberate, it’s extremely unlikely you’ll find a paper trail linking the incident to a state actor,”
Well, then don’t and simply throw the book at the crew. Recruitment numbers for such missions will drop significantly once the grunts hear they are being put behind bars for years in a foreign land.
If you start making up your own law for international waters, it runs the risk that other countries make up their own for your vessels.
The EU could maybe impose its will on most countries in the world by simply threatening retaliation. But it’d be a big step, not one I’d take lightly.
Before reaching that point, I’d aim for a new treaty adjusting the rules.
Lol. Putin has shown repeatedly how much he respects treaties and laws.
