Update on the Arctic Sea Freighter! October 15th, 2009!

I keep following this story and it gets better all the time. I am waiting for it to sink to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea…

MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) – A Moscow court on Thursday extended custody of two men charged with hijacking the Arctic Sea cargo ship in July, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom.

The Basmanny Court arraigned eight men on piracy and kidnapping charges over the case on August 21. On Wednesday the court remand in custody two of them, an Estonian national, Yevgeny Mironov, and a Russian citizen, Dmitry Bartnev.

On Thursday the court issued a similar ruling concerning two other suspects – Latvian national Dmitry Savins, and Alexei Buleev, who has no citizenship. Their custody was extended for three months and 29 days, until February 18, for investigation purposes.

Savins said no investigation procedures were carried out since his arrest on August 21, and he saw no reason for extending his custody.

The court will begin hearing a similar request concerning Igor Borisov, also a stateless person, later in the day.

On Friday the court is due to announce its ruling on a request concerning two other suspects – Latvian national Vitaly Lepin and Russian citizen Andrei Lunev.

The Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged ship manned by a Russian crew and listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria, was reportedly boarded by a group of eight men on July 24. Officials later said it had disappeared in the Atlantic. It was freed off Cape Verde on August 16 by a Russian warship.

The vessel has been impounded on a court order, and is currently anchored in the open sea to the east of Gibraltar.

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