By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian navy has released the Somali pirates it had detained during an operation to free a hijacked Russian tanker, a defence ministry source said.
“Unfortunately, at present there exist no legal rules for prosecuting in court the pirates operating in the region of Somalia,” the source said Thursday. “This means they do not fall under the jurisdiction of any state or international law.”
Commandos from the anti-submarine warship Marshal Shaposhnikov freed the tanker Thursday in a 22-minute operation. The vessel, on its way from the Red Sea to China, was seized Wednesday.
The source added that after the pirates had been disarmed and their navigation equipment removed, they were “put into an inflatable boat” and pushed off into the sea.
Somali pirates carried out a record number of attacks and hijackings in 2009.