Russians release oil tanker hijackers
Source: Agencies |
May 8, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RUSSIA has released the pirates who hijacked an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden because a Defence Ministry official said yesterday, there are no legal grounds to prosecute them in Moscow.
It was planned to take the 10 alleged pirates to Russia to face prosecution for Wednesday's seizure of the Russian-owned MV Moscow University, which was headed to China with US$52 million worth of crude oil and 23 crew.
The tanker was freed and its captors detained after they surrendered on Thursday following a gun battle with forces aboard a Russian warship that killed one pirate, according to Russian authorities.
"In the absence of necessary legal agreements, it was impossible to bring these pirates to justice," said a senior Russian Defence Ministry official on condition of anonymity. "A decision was adopted to set them free aboard one of the small vessels they themselves had used to attack the Moscow University tanker."
The official said the ministry had been unable to establish the pirates' citizenship.
Earlier, Russian investigators said they were Somali and that they would be brought to Moscow for prosecution.
The international community has become increasingly frustrated with the murky legal area surrounding piracy.
Somalia lacks the legal infrastructure to support trials, and captured pirates are often released because of disagreements over which country should try them.
It was planned to take the 10 alleged pirates to Russia to face prosecution for Wednesday's seizure of the Russian-owned MV Moscow University, which was headed to China with US$52 million worth of crude oil and 23 crew.
The tanker was freed and its captors detained after they surrendered on Thursday following a gun battle with forces aboard a Russian warship that killed one pirate, according to Russian authorities.
"In the absence of necessary legal agreements, it was impossible to bring these pirates to justice," said a senior Russian Defence Ministry official on condition of anonymity. "A decision was adopted to set them free aboard one of the small vessels they themselves had used to attack the Moscow University tanker."
The official said the ministry had been unable to establish the pirates' citizenship.
Earlier, Russian investigators said they were Somali and that they would be brought to Moscow for prosecution.
The international community has become increasingly frustrated with the murky legal area surrounding piracy.
Somalia lacks the legal infrastructure to support trials, and captured pirates are often released because of disagreements over which country should try them.
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