A Fijian court has ruled that a Russian-owned superyacht can be seized under a U.S. warrant as part of the sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The Suva High Court said on May 3 that it had granted the order to seize the superyacht Amadea, which U.S. authorities say is owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, after an application was made last month by the director of public prosecutions to register a U.S. warrant to seize the vessel.
"The High Court had earlier granted the application to restrain Amadea from leaving...Fijian waters and this afternoon Justice Deepthi Amaratunga granted the second application to register the U.S. warrant to seize the superyacht," a court statement said.
The boat was impounded by police three weeks ago after arriving in the Pacific Ocean nation from Mexico.
Local media in Fiji have reported that lawyers for the 107-meter yacht's registered owner, Millemarin Investments, have denied it is ultimately owned by Kerimov. Instead, they said in court that it is owned by another Russian oligarch, Eduard Khudainatov, the former president of oil giant Rosneft, who has not been sanctioned by the United States.
Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine and the war that has subsequently followed has sparked several rounds of crippling sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and many other allied countries against Russia, President Vladimir Putin, and many of the companies and billionaire oligarchs around him.
