hang em up from the highest yardarm
Remember the article I posted the other day about what happened to the pirates supposedly released by the Russians? Check this out:
Officials initially said they would be taken to Russia for trial, but the Defense Ministry said Friday they’d been released because of “imperfections” in international law. The statement was met with skepticism, especially in light of a comment made by the Russian president.
“We’ll have to do what our forefathers did when they met the pirates” until the international community comes up with a legal way of prosecuting them, Dmitry Medvedev said on the day the ship was stormed.
I guess back in the day, the practice was just to hang them by the nearest yardarm. We frown upon such things these days, but there’s no real law on the high seas. If no one figures out a way to put on genuine trials (or, you know, help Somalia), we’ll probably see a lot more of this.
In related news, I know you’re wondering what happened to the Russian journalist who was apparently forced to flee the country after casting doubts on another piracy story. Sorry, but I can’t help you with that. I’ve got an eye out, but there’s nothing new to report. Not in English, at least. Maybe some of my Russian spammers could lend a hand.
