The pirates seized by a Russian warship off the coast of Somalia have been released because of "imperfections" in international law, the Defense Ministry said Friday, a claim that sparked skepticism — and even suspicion that the pirates might have been killed.
Authorities initially said the pirates would be brought to Russia to face criminal charges for hijacking a Russian oil tanker. But Defense Ministry spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov said Friday that the pirates had been released.
Kuznetsov declined to elaborate on the purported legal flaws that prompted the release, and it was unclear how the seizure of the tanker might be legally different fr om last year's purported hijacking of the Russian-crewed freighter Arctic Sea.
That vessel supposedly was seized by pirates in the Baltic Sea off Sweden and went missing for several days before a Russian warship tracked it down off West Africa. The eight suspected pirates were flown to Moscow to face eventual trial.
The Law of the Seas Convention, to which Russia is a signatory, says the courts of a country that seizes a pirated vessel on the high seas have the right to decide what penalties will be imposed.
But what to do with pirates has become a murky problem. Some countries are wary of hauling in pirates for trial for fear of being saddled with them after they serve prison terms, and some propose that pirates be taken to Kenya for trial.
Kuznetsov appeared to echo those concerns when asked why the pirates who seized the tanker were released.
"Why should we feed some pirates?" he asked. He did not give specifics of the pirates' release, but Itar-Tass quoted a ministry source as saying they were "sent home," unarmed and without navigational devices, in the small boats they had used to approach the tanker.
Their home, presumably, was Somalia, a chaotic and lawless country wh ere pirates are almost certain to avoid any formal prosecution.
Mikhail Voitenko, editor of the online Marine Bulletin, said the release strained credulity and instead sparked suspicion that the pirates had all been killed.
"There is no more stupid version than the one that has been proposed to us — that there was no sense in dealing with the pirates and that in Russia there are no suitable laws for convicting them," he wrote.
"If the pirates really were let go, it should have been done in the presence of journalists. If the pirates were killed, a heroic version would have to be thought up," Voitenko said.
The pirates boarded the tanker Moscow University on Wednesday. They were arrested Thursday after special forces from a Russian warship stormed the tanker. A gunbattle ensued in which one pirate was killed; 10 others were arrested.
The warship opened with warning fire from large-caliber machine guns and a 30mm artillery complex, the Defense Ministry said. Special forces troops then rappelled down to the tanker from a helicopter, said Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist, the European Union Naval Force commander.
The tanker's 23 crew members, who had taken refuge in a safe room, were not injured.
Suspected pirates from other cases are in custody and awaiting trial in France, the Netherlands and the United States.
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