El Cronista
After a week as a ‘hostage’, Ghana decides if it will release the Frigate Libertad
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Tomorrow
the Frigate Libertad could set sail again, after more than a week
moored in Accra, the capital of Ghana, over a complaint from a creditor
fund of Argentine bonds in default.
The
Superior Court of Accra will decide tomorrow whether or not to release
the teaching vessel of the Argentine navy, which has been held in the
port of Tema, close to Accra, since Tuesday, October 2, based on a
complaint from the vulture fund NML Capital Limited, which demands
payment on sovereign bonds owed since the default of 2001.
The
Ghana court set the date yesterday after hearing arguments from
representatives of the vulture fund NML Capital and the Argentine
government.
The
attorney that represents Argentina, Larry Otoo, said that the frigate
Libertad is a military ship which, according to Ghana laws, enjoys
diplomatic immunity and should not be held. According to Otoo, the
frigate docked at the port of Tema, some 25 km from Accra, by invitation
of the government of Ghana and carries 200 crew members on board,
including persons of South African, Namibian and Moroccan citizenship.
For that, he asked the court to authorize the continuation of the
frigate’s trip, according to the EFE agency.
For
his part, NML Capital Limited’s representative, attorney Ace Ankomah,
rejected Otoo’s petition, saying that Argentina has the ability to honor
its economic obligations. “Argentina’s international reserves, or its
foreign currency liquidity, as of the month of August was US$45
billion,” Ankomah argued. And he pointed out that if the Argentine
frigate abandons the coast of Ghana, it’s possible that his client will
never receive payment on the debt. Also, the lawyer for the NML Capital
fund put in doubt that the ship was invited by the government of Ghana,
which has not yet provided the court any document that credits this,
and he said that, while war ships enjoy immunity, this has no reason why
to apply it if there are contracts of means. “While the UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea recognizes immunity of war ships, that recognition
is based on rules and principles of customary international law, which
allows for that immunity to be withdrawn,” Ankomah argued.
Watching
the hearing yesterday were Argentina’s ambassador to Nigeria, María
Susana Pataro, who also handles Ghana, and has taken up the case on the
diplomatic level.
NML
is seeking to collect on rulings for the investment fund for US$1.6
billion in bonds declared in default in the 2001 crisis, which were
obtained in its favor in New York and London; according to what has been
reported, it belongs to multimillionaire Paul Singer, one of the
largest contributors to the campaign of Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney in the United States.
Between
2005 and 2010, Argentina refinanced and normalized 93% of that debt
with creditors, for almost US$100 billion, but remaining are a group of
bonds in the hands of speculative funds that bet on recovering 100% plus
interest through court litigation.
After
the retention of the frigate, the Argentine government said in a
statement that NML’s legal action constitutes “a devious attack by the
vulture funds against Argentina” that “violates the Vienna Convention on
diplomatic immunity.”
The
ship sailed from the port of Buenos Aires on June 2 to hold its
traditional graduation voyage of the navy that includes, for the first
time, the countries of Ghana, Angola and Namibia. It was scheduled to
arrive in Luanda on the 11th of this month, and then continue on to
Namibia, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro.
Clarin
Tomorrow the fate of the Frigate Libertad is decided in Ghana
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
By Ana Baron
(WASHINGTON)
Tomorrow, the Superior Court of Ghana should decide if it will release
the Frigate Libertad – held in the port of Tema – as the Argentine
government requested yesterday or if, on the contrary, it will demand a
bail payment. A source told Clarin that, in latter case, if Argentina
refuses to pay bail the frigate could end up being held for up to three
years.
The
frigate was detained in Ghana over a claim filed by NML, a vulture
funds that is seeking to collect on rulings it obtained in its favor in
the courts of New York and London for almost US$1.6 billion.
According
to what this newspaper could find out, during the hearing that took
place yesterday in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Larry Otoo, the attorney
representing Argentina, said that the frigate is a military ship which
under the laws of Ghana enjoys diplomatic immunity and that, as such,
must be released.
In
his presentation, Otoo said that the Libertad arrived in the port of
Tema with a crew of 200 men and women, invited by the government of
Ghana. He explained that due to the detention of the ship,
representatives of the Ghana navy could not participate in the training
that was scheduled and that places the government of Ghana in distress.
In that context, he urged the court to release the ship.
On
the sidewalk in front of the court, the attorney for NML, Ace Ankomah,
said that while the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognizes the
immunity of war ships, that recognition is based on principles of
international law that allow immunity to be lifted in some cases.
Ankomah accused Argentina of not paying its debts, despite it having the
means to do so.
The
attention is centered on the hearing. The judge will have to determine
who is right on the issue of diplomatic immunity. If he rules in favor
of Argentina, the frigate will be released immediately. And if he
determines it does not have immunity, he will fix a bail of up to US$10
million. If Argentina doesn’t pay, the Frigate Libertad could spend
three years detained in the port of Tema.
New York Post
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
By Kaja Whitehouse
They’d rather walk the plank than contribute to this pirate’s booty.
A
Ghana court yesterday was told Argentina will not fork over $20 million
to New York hedge-fund honcho Paul Singer to free up the three-masted
tall ship the billionaire seized last week.
At
a court hearing in the West African nation — where the Argentine naval
vessel ARA Libertad was detained — a lawyer for the South American
country argued that Singer had no right to hold the ship because it’s a
military vessel and therefore protected by sovereign immunity, sources
told The Post.
The New York Observer
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
By Patrick Clark
A
lawyer for the Argentina navy told a court in Ghana it would not pay
Elliott Management $20 million for the release of the ARA Libertad, a
training vessel used by the South American country’s navy. Elliott, the
hedge fund managed by Paul Singer, seized the sailing ship last week in
attempt to make good on defaulted Argentinean debt. Argentina said the
ship couldn’t be seized because it was a military vessel, according to
The New York Post.
Goldman
Sachs is lobbying the government to exempt investment vehicles known as
credit funds from the Volcker rule, The Journal reports. If lobbying
fails, the firm may be preparing for a game of a “Whac-A-Mole” as it
devises strategies to dodge regulators.
An oil discovery in the Celtic Sea may offer salvation for the Irish economy!
New York Post
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
By Kaja Whitehouse
Argentina
is refusing to pay the $20 million in ransom that New York hedge fund
honcho Paul Singer is demanding in exchange for releasing the country’s
premier naval vessel.
At
a court hearing today in Ghana, where Singer’s lawyers are holding the
ARA Libertad hostage, a lawyer for Argentina argued that Singer had no
right to detain the ship because it’s a military vessel and immune from
seizure.
Lawyer
Larry Otoo called the seizure — a move by Singer to force Argentina to
repay a $1.6 billion debt he says he’s owed — an embarrassment to Ghana
and demanded the ship’s immediate return.
Vibe Ghana
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
An
Accra Fast Track will on October 11, deliver its ruling on whether or
not to set aside its orders that restrained an Argentine Naval Ship from
moving or bunkering until further notice.
This
was after it had listened to arguments from counsel representing the
NML Capital Limited, a subsidiary of Elliot Management, a New York-based
investment fund engaged in the investment of pension funds, and the
Republic of Argentina.
NML
Capital Limited on October 2 went to the Commercial Division of the
Fast Track High Court to obtain an interim injunction against the
Argentine vessel known as ARA Libertad, currently in Ghana, with about
200 men on board.
Vanguard
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
ACCRA
(AFP) – A Ghana court will on Thursday decide whether to release one of
Argentina’s warships detained in a port in the West African nation over
a debt dispute, the judge in the case said.
Argentina
on Tuesday argued before the Accra Commercial Court for the release of
the frigate, saying the vessel with 200 crew seized after an October 2
order enjoyed diplomatic immunity. It had arrived in Ghana for a
training mission.
“It
is quite clear that ARS Libertad is a military ship and it is immune
from attachment to any judgment in this country,” Larry Otu, the lawyer
representing the Argentine government, told the court.
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