| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Japanese Poachers Living in Hotel
A criminal case was initiated yesterday over the illegal crossing of the Russian border and poaching by the Japanese schooner Kisshin Maru 31, deputy head of the Sakhalin border department Mikhail Shevchenko reports. The actions of the Russian border guards, who shot one member of the Kisshin Maru 31's crew, Mitsujiro Morita, to death, are being investigated by military prosecutors. That body is being handed over to the Japanese today.
Shevchenko stated that the remaining crew members and the ship itself will be held in Russia further and negotiations on their fate have not yet even started with the Japanese. Japanese ambassador in Russia Yasuo Saito personally requested if the Russian Foreign Ministry that the dead sailor's body be speedily turned over to his homeland.
The other Japanese sailors are being held in the House of Friendship, the best hotel in Yuzhno-Kurilsk, built by the Japanese in 1999 for Japanese tourists visiting Kunashiri Island. They are staying in a single suite with an armed guard outside the door. They are not officially under arrest, since, as the local prosecutor told Kommersant, “they have nowhere to go from Kunashiri.” The hotel reports that they are satisfied with their accommodations, but are not being allowed alcohol. Charges may be pressed against the sailors in the near future. The schooners captain, Naboru Sakasita, is being subjected to an inquest in which he is refused to participate.
Illegal border crossing is punishable by imprisonment of two to five years. Poaching is punishable by six months' imprisonment and a heavy fine. Col. Alexander Khlebalov, head of the 318th Garrison military prosecutor's office, has arrived on the island in connection with the case. Yuzhno-Kurilsk district prosecutor Vitaly Khatsulev is supervising the investigation. The border service says that the investigation of the shooting of the sailor has yet to begin, but it described the incident as a “tragic accident” caused by the sea's waves.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 18, 2006
|
|
|
