Russian Sailors Freed From Captivity In Cameroon Testify In Pirate Attack Case - Embassy

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2019) Russian sailors freed after weeks of captivity in Cameroon act as witnesses in the probe into the pirate attack on their commercial ship off the coast of the African country last month, a Russian diplomat told Sputnik on Sunday.

Pirates boarded the MarMalaita owned by German shipping company MarConsult Schiffahrt on August 14 and kidnapped eight of the 12 crew members. The three Russians, four Filipinos and a Ukrainian have been released and brought to Germany.

"The investigation is not over yet... It is conducted under the aegis of Interpol, the agency tackling piracy worldwide, and [German] Federal police. Our law enforcers are involved too. They [Russian sailors] are in Frankfurt... They have been questioned because they act as witnesses in this case," Oleg Ksenofontov, the spokesman for the Russian embassy in Germany, said.

He said there would be no comment on the size of the ransom any time soon and did not give any timeframe for the ongoing investigation.

The Russian sailors are expected to return home on Monday.