Thursday, June 17, 2010

The case of 3 stowaways...CHINESE CREW FACE PROSECUTION (1B, JUNE 1, 2010)

THE Western Regional Police Command is in the process of securing an order from the Attorney-General’s Department for the prosecution of the captain and crew of the Chinese merchant vessel from which three Ivorian nationals were thrown into the ocean.
The vessel, MV Run Ning 3, has been impounded and is currently docked at the Takoradi Port, while investigations continue.
However, the agents of the vessel have been taking responsibility for the well-being of the two surviving stowaways — Omar Secei, 33, and Djiba Kamarah, 22 — by providing them with food, clothing, shelter and health care.
Omar Secei, the one who is on admission, is said to be responding to treatment at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority Hospital in Takoradi.
A third stowaway, identified by Kamarah as Kondah Aziz, got drowned and his body is yet to be washed ashore.
According to the police, there are international maritime laws that the Attorney-General has to look at to ensure that the suspects are properly charged and put before court.
The Western Regional Crime Officer, Mr James Kofi Abraham, told the Daily Graphic that they would proceed to court and properly remand the suspects.
When contacted, officials at the Ivorian Embassy in Ghana described the act of the ship’s crew as barbaric and unfair.
It would be recalled that the stowaways, who joined the ship in Cote d’Ivoire, were rescued by a Ghana Navy ship in Ghanaian territorial waters.
Kamarah and Secei had to swim for more than 12 hours in deep waters until personnel of the Ghana Navy rescued them.

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