Posted on 05/11/2010 4:45:38 PM PDT by traumer
Ten suspected Somali pirates captured by the Russian navy last week may have perished after their release, a defence source in Moscow has told reporters.
Marines seized them during a dramatic operation to free a hijacked Russian oil tanker far from shore, killing an 11th suspect in the gun battle.
They were released in an inflatable boat without navigational equipment.
Within an hour, contact was lost with the boat's radio beacon, the defence source said.
"It seems that they all died," the unnamed source was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency.
Russia initially said the 10 pirates would be taken to Moscow to face criminal charges over the hijacking, but they were released instead because there were not sufficient legal grounds to detain them, the defence ministry in Moscow said.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which Russia is a signatory, gives sovereign nations the right to seize and prosecute pirates.
Western officials were very surprised when the Russian authorities dropped plans to put the pirates on trial in Moscow, the BBC's Richard Galpin reports from Moscow.
Now there is even more surprise the pirates were set adrift in the Indian Ocean to make their own way home, he adds.
Unknown factors
The tanker, the Moscow University, was seized on 5 May some 350km (190 nautical miles) off the Yemeni island of Socotra as it sailed for China, carrying crude oil worth $50m (£33m).
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Good to hear.
Gee no crime here move along LOL!
What? No Miranda rights ??
Well...there will be no more RUSSIAN Ships attacked by Somali Pirates! Word will spread. They’ll be looking for American ships.
Had that been the US Navy, Congress would be charging the entire ship with murder and holding hearings.
Yeah, my guess is also that they’re all dead.
More likely than not.
Can’t know for sure.
But, yeah.
Probably dead.
Did you watch Glenn Beck today? He brought up a good point. The New York bomber was a citizen. AG Holder wants to stop reading the Maranda rights if a person is “suspected” of being a terrorist. That would mean you and me if we were “suspected” and could be held in jail forever if they wanted.
Yeah; they AT LEAST should have each taken a Lawyer on the raft with them !
This surely sends a message....
And the best part about it is that the Russians, to their credit, do not care in the least.
Damn shame
Guess the Somali pirates will think twice before trying to take a Russian ship anytime soon. Wish the US and Britain had the same policies.
That is the way it is supposed to be done, no mercy to pirates.
Putin and Bush had a lot in common, in that they are both “manly” men. Muslim terrorists feared both men.
But they regard the current occupant of the WH as a joke.
“It seems that they all died,” the unnamed source was quoted as saying by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Russians are some cold blooded boys.
“Had that been the US Navy, Congress would be charging the entire ship with murder and holding hearings.”
EXACTLY
What a waste of a perfectly good raft.
They caught the flu?
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