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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trinidad Jimenez, assured that Spain did not pay ransom for the Alakrana. (Photo: Maec/Tuna Seiners/FIS)
Government rejects charges for payment of ransom for the Alakrana
(SPAIN, 5/5/2011)
The High Court stated that the Spanish government had paid the ransom for the vessel Alakrana, which was caught for 47 days in 2009 by Somali pirates when fishing 365 miles off the African country coast in the Indian Ocean.
According to the court sentence, the two pirates arrested for catching the tuna vessel, owned by Echebastar Fleet S.L.U., were convicted for conspiracy, 36 illegal detentions, violent robbery and other 36 crimes against moral integrity.
The attackers must be 25 years in prison and pay EUR 2,500 for each crew member because of the money and belongings stolen, and EUR 100,000 for the moral damages suffered.
For the hearing, the Spanish government gave the money "for sure" and rejected the version indicating that the shipping company had paid EUR 10 million to settle the case.
But the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trinidad Jimenez, explained that Spain "did not pay ransom" for the pirates to release the crew of the Alakrana vessel.
"The Spanish government, at all times, argued that there was no ransom paid by the Government. Therefore, I support what the president and the Defense Minister expressed at the time," pointed out the minister.
She also stressed that "the only thing that mattered" to the government authorities was that the crew returned "safe and sound, something that we were able to achieve", the newspaper Faro de Vigo reported.
The parliamentary spokesman of the Popular Party in Congress, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, warned that the sentence is a "setback" for the credibility of the Executive.
The Government admitted sending EUR 500,000 to Kenya on the eve of the release of the Alakrana vessel but made it clear that those cases were not related.
"The specific use of the funds sent on November 12, 2009 was for the account of the paying sector at the Embassy of Spain in Kenya. It was not a warrant, but only an advance among banks, which has been wholly restored," informed a high Spanish authority, according to Europa Press agency.
Related article:
- Another Spanish vessel falls victim to pirates
By Analia Murias
[email protected]
www.seafood.media
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