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Title: Pirates to be brought to Japan after attack on tanker in Indian Ocean
Source:
Japan Today
URL Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/ ... tack-on-tanker-in-indian-ocean
Published: Mar 8, 2011
Author: unattributed
Post Date: 2011-03-08 20:21:47 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 461
Comments: 1
TOKYO — The Japanese government will bring to Japan four pirates who were captured after attacking a tanker operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean, government sources said Tuesday. It will be the first transfer of pirates to Japan since the creation of the country’s antipiracy law in 2009, and experts are watching closely how Tokyo will handle captured pirates when there are no widely recognized international rules on handling them. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office dispatched prosecutors to Oman Tuesday night, investigative sources said, most likely to question crew members of the tanker and make arrangements for the pirates’ transportation. After they are flown to Japan, the Japan Coast Guard is expected to arrest them on suspicion of violating the antipiracy law, the sources said, adding that the Tokyo prosecutors will eventually decide on a course of action against them. If indicted, the pirates may receive a lay judge trial, judicial sources said. Under the antipiracy law, which took effect in July 2009, acts of piracy that involve the commandeering of a vessel are punishable by five years to life in prison. The U.S. military, which has taken the four into custody, is expected to hand them over to Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force as early as Tuesday, and a Japanese destroyer currently in the Gulf nation of Oman will take them to Djibouti, a small African nation where the ship is based for antipiracy operations, the sources said. The government plans to use a Japan Coast Guard aircraft to transport the pirates to Japan from Djibouti, the government sources said. The Bahamian-registered 57,462-ton Guanabara to transport fuel oil from Ukraine to China, was approached by a small boat Saturday night. The four pirates on the craft boarded the tanker, but none of the 24 crew members, all non-Japanese, were hurt. Justice Minister Satsuki Eda told a news conference Tuesday that he had heard that the pirates will be transported to Japan. The 2009 law allows the Coast Guard to respond to acts of piracy against Japanese and non-Japanese vessels in Japan’s territorial waters or on high seas. It also allows Coast Guard officers to use weapons if necessary. Under approval from the prime minister, the defense minister is allowed to instruct the Self-Defense Forces to respond to piracy if necessary, according to the law. Currently no clear international rules exist on how to handle captured pirates. The pirates are basically handled by the country that captured them, a country near the location where they were captured, a country with which an attacked vessel has registered, a shipping company that fell prey to the piracy, or a country in which the company is based. In October 1999, a cargo vessel operated by a Japanese shipping company was commandeered by pirates in the Strait of Malacca. Seventeen crew members of the ship, including two Japanese, were rescued after they drifted at sea. The cargo vessel was stopped by Indian authorities, and the pirates were put on trial in India. Japan has deployed two destroyers in waters off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden since 2009 as part of an international antipiracy mission.
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
The japs should tie them to a Honda, and pitch them overboard.
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