Arctic Sea: wobegone hijackers go to trial

Tatyana Barteneva, mother of Dmitry Bartenev




Irina Verenich wife of Aleksei Andrushin



Tatyana Seleven, wife of Igor Borisov





Nastya Strelkova, Andrushin's sister


Arkhangelsk regional court is trying six for seizure of the Arctic Sea: Alexei Andryushin, Dmitry Bartenev, Alexei Buleyev, Igor Borisov, Vitalijs Lepins and Yevgeny Mironov Five defendants pleaded partially guilty, and one pleaded guilty to all the charges,"
The review of the 52-volume criminal case is expected to last several months. The families of the men on trial for piracy say the highly unlikely hijackers are the biggest victims in the case. Few in Estonia believe there's any chance they'll soon return to Lasnamae.

People in Tallinn's Russian community who know the men dismiss the allegations as absurd. They say the alleged hijackers are ordinary layabouts, petty criminals and heavy drinkers who couldn't possibly have been capable of pulling off a major international heist on the high seas.

Tatyana Barteneva's son Dmitry Bartenev is one of the men on trial in Moscow. Inside the tidy, cramped apartment she shared until recently with both her two grown sons, the 63-year-old nurse with a blond bob hairstyle defends Bartenev and the other alleged hijackers as the victims of a plot they didn't understand.

"I don't think they're such idiots as to pick a fight with Russia," she says. "Why would they need that?"

Barteneva has lived in Tallinn since the age of 9, when her father, a Soviet military officer, was posted here in the 1950s. Her late husband was the captain of a fishing trawler, and their son Dmitry took odd jobs at sea.

Tallinn's Lasmanae neighborhood, the home of many ethnic Russians
According to his brother Aleksei Bartenev, Dmitry was unemployed last March when he noticed a leaflet outside a local supermarket advertising security work in Spain. A big man with prominent features and a crew-cut, the 42-year-old sometime sailor was on probation for drunk driving. He described the job to several of his friends, who jumped at the chance to travel abroad for pay.

The men shared similar backgrounds. Born in Estonia, all but one never met the tough requirements for Estonian citizenship. Locals say Bartenev and others like him are part of a lost generation of former Soviets who were unprepared to make it in what became a new country after the communist collapse.
“I think they were framed, and it is not just my opinion, everybody who knows them also thinks so,” Alexei Bartenev. “They were seeking a job and got involved in a political conflict, were made hostages of a political game.”
Sitting in a popular local bar called Zanzibar, where leopard-print seat pillows offer some visual relief from the uniform apartment blocks outside, Irina Verenich the wife of Aleksei Andrushin -- an unemployed, 28-year-old construction worker --"I told him so many times, 'What are you doing?'" she says. "I said, 'You help people you don't even know, and no one will help you in return.' And that's exactly what happened."
In addition to the six Russians from Lasnamae, two men from Latvia signed up for the work he offered. Several of the men posted notices on a popular social-networking site saying they'd be away for several months. They told their families they'd be gone until early October.


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Arctic Sea: return of the phantom Captain

A handwritten letter allegedly penned by Igor Borisov an unemployed roofer before the "Arctic Sea" incident reiterates the "hijacker's" testimony, and appeals to the international community to take seriously their concerns.
The alleged pirates claim they were hired to conduct temporary environmental work. The men are awaiting trial in a Moscow jail, facing more than 20 years in prison on charges of kidnapping and piracy.

Many assume the Arctic sea was carrying AA missiles sold to Iran but being delivered without authority by truant Russian military and criminals. It was said in the West that the vessel disappeared. The Kremlin was warned to stop its shipment or others would step in. The prisoners say they were set up, part of a cover meant to save the Kremlin embarrassment. A Russian frigate "rescued" the vessel from these"hijackers."

The Arctic Sea was unloading Finnish timber at the port of Bejaia on January 25 and will be sailing again from Finland in February. The Arctic Sea will take to the seas , the Russian Seafarers' Union said.
"The Arctic Sea cargo vessel's captain will return to the vessel and in February he will set sail again," the statement said, adding that most of the crew who were on board the ship when it was seized would be joining him.

Arctic Sea: No bullet holes found on Arctic Sea

The ship’s captain showed it off in the early hours of January 4 that is, before Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), checked the ship on that evening.
The ship’s bridge is what interested the NBI the most.
Everything is in place: the steering and navigation equipment, the device which sends the AIS positioning signal, and the satellite telephone. According to the report, the hijackers kept the crew locked in their cabins. However, it would appear that the locks on the doors could be opened from the inside without a key.
There are no bullet holes in the walls of any of the cabins. What if a hiding place had been built into the structures of the ship during the vessel’s refurbishment in Kaliningrad? It is very hard to say just standing on the deck.
The Maltese flag on the masthead flutters in the wind. The riddle of the Arctic Sea is no closer to being solved.
The" Hijackers" of the Arctic Sea, more than six of them, most ethnic Russians living in the same neighborhood in the Estonian capital Tallinn, were set up, part of a cover meant to save the Kremlin embarrassment about a secret Russian AA missile sale to Iran gone bad. The six men awaiting trial in a Moscow jail, are facing more than 20 years in prison on charges of kidnapping and piracy.In Tallinn, Alexei Bartenev, the brother of another of the alleged hijackers, says he received a letter from accused hijacker Igor Borisov. an unemployed roofer before the "Arctic Sea" incident. by regular mail, drawing attention to the defendants' plight. "They're trying to make it clear they're no kind of pirates," he says. Bartenev says the men are being held in relatively good conditions, but under "complete isolation."

On January 23, the vessel with another load of sawn timber, approaches Algeria.

Arctic Sea: return to the scene of the crime

Arctic Sea: destination changed back to KOTKA

Two members of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) traveled to Russia on December 16 to conduct an investigation into the hijacking of the Arctic Sea ship. They were to question suspects and meet with Russian investigators. They planned to return to Finland on December 18. The vessel in question last turned on its AIS transponder to enter Setubal Portugal and then again on December 21 to depart, headed North. At 2009-12-22 05:36, the vessel's destination was changed (back)to KOTKA, Finland.

Arctic Sea: Gone underground away from Finns?

Finnish investigators are travelling to Russia on December 16 to conduct an investigation into the hijacking of the Arctic Sea ship. Accordingly, the stated destination of the phantom vessel was changed at 2009-12-16 21:22 to read "Underground." Previously, the destination had read 2009-12-21 08:00 Kotka [Finland]. The vessel last turned on its AIS transponder to enter Setubal Portugal.

Rabbe von Hertzen, who is heading up the investigation, says two members of the National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) are to question suspects and meet with Russian investigators. They are to return to Finland on December 18.

Von Hertzen says the trip is necessary because the suspects are being held in Russia.

The Arctic Sea was seized by a group of hijackers in Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea in July. The vessel was carrying a load of lumber from Finland to Algeria. The Russian Navy regained control of the ship off Africa’s west coast in August.

Arctic Sea: Romanova-Lebedeva reappears

A lawyer working on the case of the hijacked ship Arctic Sea has been found after going missing for several days. Yelena Romanova-Lebedeva's disappearance was reported to police after she was not seen nor heard from since leaving her Moscow office on December 9.

On December 13, Natalya Volkova, also a lawyer,said Romanova-Lebedeva had been away for professional reasons and had not been kidnapped."Yelena Romanova-Lebedeva is in Moscow. Her absence was connected to her professional activities," Volkova said.

The Arctic Sea last used its AIS transponder entering Setubal, Portugal.

The Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets, citing Russian security sources, said the Arctic Sea was smuggling arms and that the hijackers were stooges hired by the intelligence service of an EU member state to intercept it. Suspected hijacker, Russian Dmitry Bartenev’s brother said he believed that the hijacking suspects had been caught up in “political games.”

“I think they were framed, and it is not just my opinion, everybody who knows them also thinks so,” Alexei Bartenev. “They were seeking a job and got involved in a political conflict, were made hostages of a political game.” He did not elaborate.
Sweden, Malta and Finland have been called upon by Russia to help answer questions in the investigation into the hijacking and disappearance this summer of the "Arctic Sea" freighter. "But what else it is actually transporting. It has yet to be clarified," Nikolai Makarov, chief of Russia's general staff, told reporters during an official visit to Mongolia.

"We want to make sure that there is nothing but timber on board this ship. The motive for the seizure is simply not very clear," said Makarov.

Authorities in Finland, which the Arctic Sea departed from on July 23, have said it was not carrying any radioactive cargo.

Arctic Sea: alleged hijackers deny everything

Leaving court on Friday, Dmitry Bartenev said: "We were caught in a storm and were forced to evacuate to the nearest ship."

Defendant Dmitry Bartenev, 41, an unemployed Russian citizen living in Estonia, was dragged handcuffed through the court room and arrested. His head bowed in a cage, he said solving the maritime mystery was not in Russia's jurisdiction.

"A Russian court does not have the right to hear this case. The alleged illegal act happened in Swedish waters on a ship with a Maltese flag."

Maltese-flagged cargo vessel Arctic Sea is owned by Solchart, based in Finland with Russian executives. "We are appealing to all officials with a request to show humanity and provide Solchart with any reliable information on the crew and the vessel," Viktor Matveyev, managing director of the Finnish company, said.