 Missing ... Peter Foster in court in Suva before he disappeared.He says he is still in Fiji / Picture: Renee Nowytarger |
THREE Australians were last night thrown into a Vanuatu prison cell for 14 days after their ex-Australian navy minesweeper was seized on suspicion they smuggled the international conman Peter Foster out of Fiji.
Last night, the Retriever 1 was being searched for a third time by authorities in Vanuatu.The master, first mate and two Australian crew were first arrested on Tuesday on immigration and firearms charges after arriving in Port Vila in their converted dive and salvage boat preparing to look for sunken wrecks in Vanuatu`s waters.
They were granted bail, but three of the Australians, including lawyers Kell Walker and Andrew Tarter, were back in jail last night awaiting "further evidence" to support a series of new charges.
One crew member, a woman, was allowed to remain on bail.
The ship`s Australian agent, Lindsay Jacgung, told The Weekend Australian last night the decision by the magistrate was a surprise and the crew had done nothing wrong. He said they would launch an urgent appeal to Vanuatu`s Supreme Court this morning.
The ship`s owner plans to lodge a complaint with the Australian Federal Police over the handling of the case and the AFP role with authorities in Vanuatu, after it was revealed the vessel was suspected of being used to courier drugs.
Mr Jacgung told The Weekend Australian no drugs had been found in the first two searches of the ship. He said the four Australian crew denied all the charges.
The investigation is continuing in Vanuatu, where there is a large contingent of AFP officers.
Mr Jacgung said the ship had nothing to do with Mr Foster`s disappearance and that he was never on board.
A Vanuatu court heard that several people on a beach near the capital had identified Mr Foster from photographs as the man who walked up sopping wet on Tuesday - the day after the Retriever 1 arrived in Port Vila - with a plastic bag containing a wallet and other items.
The Weekend Australian has since confirmed that Mr Foster was still in the Fijian city of Nadi last Saturday - a day after the vessel left the capital, Suva, on its way to Vanuatu - where he was seen having breakfast at the popular Bula Cino cafe.
Fiji`s military said he was last seen in the country on Tuesday, after the vessel arrived in Vanuatu.
Mr Foster maintains he is still in Fiji, and is in hiding and afraid for his life.
He is contactable on an Australian telephone number that diverts to a mobile phone, so there is no way to confirm he is where he says he is.
His mother Louise - who has been questioned by Fijian soldiers about her son`s whereabouts - has had guards posted at her house, while a Fijian police boat has been dispatched to the Yasawa Islands in northwestern Fiji in case he has fled there.
Mr Jacgung said the vessel he represented could not have carried Mr Foster because at its maximum speed of 10 knots it would be unlikely to have made the 1000km journey with any detours.
The AFP has confirmed it had information Mr Foster was attempting to charter a vessel on about Wednesday last week, January 3.
The ship`s master, Mr Walker, an experienced dive-master and solicitor - who gained his legal qualification at Bond University while recovering from a back injury - was planning to conduct salvage operations for the ship`s Singaporean owner, but was in port undergoing repairs.
For his first mate, Mr Tarter, the trip was a dream realised.
The enthusiastic Sydney Harbour sailor was trading his love of the law for a love of the sea, and using the position on the Retriever 1 to build up sea-time for his master`s certificate.
However the sea voyage turned bad on Tuesday, a day after they docked in Port Vila, when Vanuatu Customs officials searched the vessel and then arrested the four Australians.
Mr Jacgung said the firearms were bought in Melbourne with approval from the Department of Defence. They had remained under Australian Customs seal until the vessel disembarked, on its way to Fiji.
The former Royal Australian Navy minesweeper would be well-known to many familiar with Sydney Harbour as the former HMAS Brolga.
It was bought by its new owner in Fremantle, Western Australia, and Mr Tarter had spent the last three years refurbishing the vessel.
