ID :
103660
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 23:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/103660
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Bullet marks found on fishing boats after shooting by Russian guards
SAPPORO, Jan. 30 Kyodo -
A total of 20 bullet marks have been found on the hulls of two fishing boats
that returned to a Hokkaido port after apparently being fired on by a Russian
coast guard helicopter in waters off one of four disputed northern islands, the
Japan Coast Guard said Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said Russian border guards had
admitted that they opened fire on the vessels off the coast of Kunashiri
Island, confirming Japanese reports of the incident the previous day.
The Coast Guard said 15 bullet marks were found on one of the vessels and five
on the other. The 19-ton vessels with a total of 15 crew members returned to
Rausu port in the eastern part of Hokkaido on Friday night.
In Tokyo, Yasuaki Tanizaki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's European
Affairs Bureau, lodged a protest with Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Bely
over the incident, which he said occurred when the boats were operating
appropriately.
The local government in Hokkaido said earlier Saturday that opening fire on an
unarmed vessel cannot be justified for any reason.
Itar-Tass quoted sources at the Russian Security Service's Sakhalin coast guard
department as saying that both vessels had ''ignored orders to stop for
inspection'' and after warning shots, the vessels were fired on ''to make them
stop'' at 1:20 p.m. Friday Sakhalin time.
On Friday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry and the local government in Hokkaido
said a Russian border guard helicopter launched what appeared to be a flare
bomb at the boats. The Itar-Tass English-language report did not say how many
shots were fired.
Hokkaido government officials said the incident took place when the vessels
were preparing to return to port after finishing operations within an area in
which fishing by Japanese boats is allowed in accordance with ''cooperation
fees'' paid to the Russian side.
''They did not commit any violations and we intend to protest the incident
through related authorities,'' Rausu fisheries cooperative official Katsuhiro
Tanaka said, adding that a satellite tracking system showed that neither of the
boats had strayed from designated navigation areas.
In August 2006, a Japanese fisherman was killed in a shooting incident in
waters near the disputed islands in the northern Pacific, known in Japan as the
Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils.
In that incident, a Russian patrol boat fired on a Japanese crab-fishing vessel
near Russian-administered Kaigara Island and captured its captain and two other
crew members.
Russian authorities at the time accused the crew of poaching and intruding into
Russian-claimed waters off Nemuro, Hokkaido. The captain denied the charges
after being released about seven weeks later.
==Kyodo
A total of 20 bullet marks have been found on the hulls of two fishing boats
that returned to a Hokkaido port after apparently being fired on by a Russian
coast guard helicopter in waters off one of four disputed northern islands, the
Japan Coast Guard said Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said Russian border guards had
admitted that they opened fire on the vessels off the coast of Kunashiri
Island, confirming Japanese reports of the incident the previous day.
The Coast Guard said 15 bullet marks were found on one of the vessels and five
on the other. The 19-ton vessels with a total of 15 crew members returned to
Rausu port in the eastern part of Hokkaido on Friday night.
In Tokyo, Yasuaki Tanizaki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's European
Affairs Bureau, lodged a protest with Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Bely
over the incident, which he said occurred when the boats were operating
appropriately.
The local government in Hokkaido said earlier Saturday that opening fire on an
unarmed vessel cannot be justified for any reason.
Itar-Tass quoted sources at the Russian Security Service's Sakhalin coast guard
department as saying that both vessels had ''ignored orders to stop for
inspection'' and after warning shots, the vessels were fired on ''to make them
stop'' at 1:20 p.m. Friday Sakhalin time.
On Friday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry and the local government in Hokkaido
said a Russian border guard helicopter launched what appeared to be a flare
bomb at the boats. The Itar-Tass English-language report did not say how many
shots were fired.
Hokkaido government officials said the incident took place when the vessels
were preparing to return to port after finishing operations within an area in
which fishing by Japanese boats is allowed in accordance with ''cooperation
fees'' paid to the Russian side.
''They did not commit any violations and we intend to protest the incident
through related authorities,'' Rausu fisheries cooperative official Katsuhiro
Tanaka said, adding that a satellite tracking system showed that neither of the
boats had strayed from designated navigation areas.
In August 2006, a Japanese fisherman was killed in a shooting incident in
waters near the disputed islands in the northern Pacific, known in Japan as the
Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils.
In that incident, a Russian patrol boat fired on a Japanese crab-fishing vessel
near Russian-administered Kaigara Island and captured its captain and two other
crew members.
Russian authorities at the time accused the crew of poaching and intruding into
Russian-claimed waters off Nemuro, Hokkaido. The captain denied the charges
after being released about seven weeks later.
==Kyodo
