Arctic Sea: 'German' patsy indicted

A criminal case has been referred to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation for approval of the indictment. Earlier, the Moscow City Court has convicted two members of the capture cargo ship "Arctic Sea": Savins sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, Lunev - 5 years imprisonment. Sergey Demchenko, accused of committing a crime under part 3. 227 УК РФ (пиратство). 227 of the Criminal Code (piracy). Demchenko was one of the participants in an organized criminal group, has a grip on the night of 24 to 25 July, 2009 vessel Arctic Sea with the Russian crew. During the criminal investigation Demchenko fully admitted his guilt in the crime, with a pre-trial agreement had been concluded.

But see Dmitrijs Savins, who gets 7 years for hijacking Russian cargo ship Arctic Sea said the hijacking was planned and organized by Estonia's former spy chief, Eerik-Niiles Kross, who was Savin's business partner.

Kross denied the accusation Friday. He told an Estonian newspaper that he was being smeared by Russian authorities for his links to the Georgian government. "I think this invention is linked to the fact that I was a security adviser to the Georgian government -- and Georgia is far from being Russia's best friend," he said.

Kross said he knew Savins, who he said had provided office space. "I know his face, as we sat in the same office," said Kross, who was the director of Estonian intelligence for 10 years, according to the Interfax news service.

Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Estonian parliament's committee for European affairs, called the accusation against Kross a "disinformation campaign" being waged by Russia against the Baltic country, which has had strained relations with Moscow since its independence from the Soviet Union.

Savins's testimony is unlikely to dampen speculation that the Arctic Sea affair was more than a case of ransoming the ship. The Russian government issued contradictory statements about the hijacking from the beginning and kept the affair top secret, even to the extent of ordering returning crew members not to speak about the events. The cargo was officially described as timber, but numerous theories have emerged that the ship could have been carrying weapons. Washington Post

According to the convict, two other people had been involved in arranging the crime – Sergey Demchenko from Germany and Aleksey Kertsbur from Israel. The man didn’t provide any proof of his accusations. earlier

Muse the Pirate: Ship-1, Ship-2

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, pleaded not guilty to an expanded indictment that includes new accusations. In March 2009, Muse, and others armed with firearms, boarded a ship (Ship-1) as it was navigating in the Indian Ocean. After boarding Ship-1, Muse and others threatened the captain of Ship-1 with a firearm; seized control of Ship-1; and held the captain and the crew of Ship-1 hostage on board Ship-1.

Furthermore, while on board Ship-1, Muse pointed a gun at one of the Ship-1 hostages and threatened to kill him. Muse also showed one of the hostages what appeared to be an improvised explosive device (IED). Muse placed the IED in the vicinity of the hostage, and indicated that if the authorities came the IED would explode and the hostage would be killed.

Then, in April 2009, Muse and others left Ship-1 on a small boat (the Skiff). When the Skiff returned to Ship-1, Ship-1 and the Skiff were made to rendezvous with another ship (Ship-2) that was then navigating in the Indian Ocean. After Ship-1 and the Skiff arrived in the vicinity of Ship-2, the captain of Ship-1 was ordered to pull Ship-1 up to Ship-2. Ship-1 was then attached to Ship-2. Muse and others held hostage, on board Ship-2, both the captain and the crew of Ship-1 and the captain and the crew of Ship-2. At the present time, the captain and the crew of Ship-2 continue to be held hostage on board Ship-2.

Muse and three other pirates later left Ship-2, and boarded the Maersk Alabama after shooting at the ship from their own boat. Each of the four pirates who boarded the Maersk Alabama, including Muse, was armed with a gun. Once on board, Muse,

One possible explanation for the new allegations: By including the earlier hijackings in the conspiracy, prosecutors may have paved the way for introducing Mr. Muse's alleged admission to one of the crews that he was 24 into evidence.

His father in Somalia told defense attorneys he was born November 20, 1993, meaning he would have been 15 at the time of the hijackings. However, the prosecution argued otherwise, saying Muse made statements suggesting he was older.