Azerbaijan files criminal case over its citizen's killing in pirate attack on Turkish ship
By Vafa Ismayilova
Baku has launched a criminal case against the killing of an Azerbaijani citizen in a pirate attack on a Turkish ship, the Prosecutor-General's Office reported on its official website on January 25.
As a result of the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that 15 out of 19 crew members were taken hostage and one was killed. It was revealed that the killed person was Azerbaijani citizen Farman Ismayilov, 45, who served on the ship as an engineer.
"The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office has launched a criminal case under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code and is carrying out the necessary investigative measures. Intensive talks are now being conducted with the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and foreign countries' relevant agencies. Requests are being prepared to get legal assistance from Turkey's, Gabon's and Liberia's competent agencies over the criminal case," the report added.
The Prosecutor-General's Office had immediately contacted Liberia's Prosecutor-General's Office and the opposite side expressed readiness to closely cooperate with the Azerbaijani law-enforcers to investigate the case, the office said.
Azerbaijani citizen Farman Ismayilov was killed in a pirate attack on a Turkish ship off the West African coast on January 23.
Armed pirates attacked the Turkish cargo ship M/V Mozart off the West African coast, kidnapping 15 of 19 crew members and killing one. News sources report that the Liberian-flagged M/V Mozart was sailing from Lagos, Nigeria, to Cape Town in South Africa when it was attacked on January 23, 100 nautical miles (185 kilometres) northwest of the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.
After kidnapping most of the crew, the pirates left the ship in the Gulf of Guinea with three sailors aboard, state-run Anadolu news agency said. According to reports, the pirates disabled most of the ship’s systems, leaving only the navigation system for the remaining crew to find their way to the port. The vessel is now anchored off neighbouring Gabon, and the body of the slain Azerbaijani is due to be brought to shore.
The Gulf of Guinea, off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon, is the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
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