STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) — An American and a German face possible imprisonment in Sweden for diving at the wreck of the Estonia ferry, which sank in 1994 with the loss of 852 lives, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.
Swedish authorities have issued warrants for the arrest of flamboyant American businessman Gregg Bemis and German television producer Jutta Rabe for diving at the Estonia wreck site in international waters off Finland in August.
"We have a law which makes the Estonia an inviolable grave site," said Deputy Trade Minister Mona Sahlin, who had earlier written to the 72-year-old American diver asking him to call off the expedition.
Bemis and Rabe led a team of divers at the Estonia site in August to investigate a theory that a bomb may have caused the ferry to sink.
"I have decided to arrest in their absence Bemis and Rabe as jointly responsible for the dive," prosecutor Ronnie Jacobsson told Reuters.
"This means that if either of them sets foot in Sweden we want to talk to them on suspicion of having violated the law protecting the Estonia grave site. For the moment it is not a question of seeking their extradition," he added.
The Estonia sank in heavy seas on Sept. 28, 1994, as the result of a design flaw that allowed waves to knock the ferry's bow door ajar and flood the car deck, according to the official investigation.
Many relatives refused to accept this explanation and Bemis said in September that his team's video of the wreck had revealed a hole in the side of the ship, though this did not confirm the theory that it had been caused by a bomb.
Sweden and most countries bordering the Baltic Sea have declared the Estonia site an international graveyard. The Swedish law on the Estonia provides for up to two years' imprisonment upon conviction.