Russia releases pirates at sea and in the presence of no media

Austin News.Net
Saturday 8th May, 2010

A statement by the Russian Defense Ministry announcing that the pirates taken by Russian naval forces had been released due to “imperfections” in international law has been met with suspicion and even outright accusation of foul play.

Russia took the ten men into custody Thursday after military forces stormed the Russian oil tanker that had been hijacked. One pirate was killed and the rest taken into custody, with officials saying they would be prosecuted in Moscow, until the mysterious announcement Friday that they had been released.

“If the pirates really were let go, it should have been done in the presence of journalists,” Mikhail Voitenko, the editor of the online Marine Bulletin. He went on to suggest they may have been killed at sea instead of released.

Official government statements have announced the pirates were released unarmed and unaided by any provisions of navigational equipment, back into their boat to find their way, presumably, back to Somalia.

On Thursday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made a statement calling on the world community to establish and international court for piracy, but acknowledged that such an institution would take time to set up.

“Until then, we'll have to do what our forefathers did when they met the pirates,” he added ominously.

The issue of how to deal with piracy has created a legal quagmire for countries involved in patrolling the waters off Somalia, although they want to protect the vital shipping routes through the Indian Ocean, no country wants to be saddled with paying for the defense and housing in prison of multiple pirates.

The mysterious ‘release’ of the alleged pirates on Friday may, therefore, be the start of a new strategy.

Have your say on this story