Russia accuses Senegal of being a "piracy"

Russia on January 9 accused Senegal of “piracy” after the West African country’s navy detained 62 Russian citizens on January 4 on a fishing vessel on suspicion of illegal fishing.

Russia’s federal fisheries agency believes the Oleg Naydenov was actually captured in the waters of Guinea Bissau, Senegal’s southern neighbor. “We can say that we are talking about state piracy,” Alexander Savelyev, an official with the agency, told Rossiya 24 television.

Senegalese Navy inspects a fishing vessel in the exclusive economic zone. (Photo: wikimedia.org)

He stressed that the Naydenov was suffering losses of $30,000 a day and pledged to take the matter to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Mr Savelyev also accused Senegalese authorities of acting under pressure from Greenpeace activists, who are urging Dakar to take a tough stance against the Russian crew.

Earlier the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Charge d'Affaires of Senegal to hand over an official note of protest to demonstrate Moscow's seriousness in viewing this issue./.

According to VNA