Border Force and Customs officers have
searched the aircraft that was conducting the Aeroflot flights 2582 / 2583,
Moscow - London - Moscow, the embassy said.
LONDON, March 31. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy to the UK has called the search of an Aeroflot jet organized by the British authorities on Friday ‘a blatant provocation’ that defied the accepted international rules.
"Today,
we have witnessed another blatant provocation by the British authorities,"
the Embassy said in a report at its official homepage.
"Border
Force and Customs officers have searched the aircraft that was conducting the
Aeroflot flights 2582 / 2583, Moscow - London - Moscow," it said.
"This kind of event is extraordinary. Moreover, the British officials
tried to search the aircraft without the crew being present, something
categorically prohibited by the rules in force."
"After
an Embassy officer arrived at the airport, long negotiations were conducted
that allowed to ensure the right of the captain to be take part in the
search," the embassy said. "After the search was over, the British
officers refused to provide any written document that would specify the reasons
for their actions, their legal foundation and their outcome."
"Our
attempts to get in touch with the Foreign Office in order to clarify the
reasons of the inappropriate behavior of British officials did not bring
fruit," the report said. "The Embassy has sent a diplomatic note
demanding the British side to provide explanations of the incident."
The Embassy
promised careful analysis of the incident.
"At
this moment, we have no other explanation but that the incident at Heathrow is
in one way or another connected with the hostile policy that the UK government
is conducting with regard to Russia," the Embassy said.
Russia’s
embassy in the United Kingdom managed to defend the Aeroflot jet captain’s
right to be present while his plane was searched by the British authorities.
"The
British officials tried to search the aircraft without the crew being present,
something categorically prohibited by the rules in force. After an Embassy
officer arrived at the airport long negotiations were conducted that allowed to
ensure the right of the captain to be take part in the search," the
embassy said.
The
Embassy managed to defend the Aeroflot jet captain’s right to be present
while his plane was searched by the British authorities.
"The
British officials tried to search the aircraft without the crew being present,
something categorically prohibited by the rules in force. After an Embassy
officer arrived at the airport long negotiations were conducted that allowed to
ensure the right of the captain to be take part in the search," the
embassy said.
Source: ITAR-TASS 31-03-2018
