A French court has sentenced the Chinese captain of a Russian suspect tanker to one year in prison for failing to stop his ship. The move was condemned by Russian leader Vladimir Putin as 'piracy'. The court also issued an arrest warrant for the captain, Chen Zhangjie.

A French court on Monday issued an arrest warrant and a one-year prison sentence against the Chinese captain of a suspected Russian “shadow fleet” tanker over failing to comply with orders to stop his ship. Chen Zhangjie, 39, was sentenced in absentia after the French navy boarded the Boracay tanker in September before releasing the vessel and its crew days later, in what Russian leader Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy”. The court in the western city of Brest also ordered Chen to pay a...