Today, an officer of
the German Federal Criminal Office (BKA) gave evidence. The officer
had spoken with the Indian journalist R., who had given evidence the
week before. They had spoken about the interview R. had made with the
crew of the dhow Hudhud. The officer had taken notes of the
conversation – however, he had to admit that the notes were taken
several days later, and after having had a talk with the officer who
was in charge of the investigations around the Taipan.
The officer named the
person, whose family had possibly been involved in organising the
attack on the Taipan – the journalist had refrained from doing so.
The judge tried to
ascertain whether the notes were reflecting what R. had told the
officer, or what the Indian crew had told R., but that didn't really
become clear. The officer did, however, confirm that the crew had
stated that they found it scandalous that the three youngest accused
were allowed to go to school in Hamburg. This information had been
reported in the papers, but R. had refuted it.
Then the statements
that the Indian crew had made with the police in Salaya were read.
Two of them had said that they were seafarers, uneducated, they had
to work and were not willing to travel to another country to make
statements. A third one had made more detailed statements. He had
described how the dhow had been carrying cargo when 16 pirates came
on board. They had attacked a container ship, but a navy helicopter
approached. The pirates had threatened to kill the crew, should the
helicopter come any closer, so the helicopter had left. Then they
were held on land for 20 to 30 days, before setting off for Oman with
16 pirates on board. They were finally released, after the pirates
had attacked another ship.
After that, the judge
announced that the video which the journalist had taken in India
would not be shown today, because the court had had problems finding
a version that would play on the court equipment. It would be shown
on Wednesday, first in chambers and then to the public.
Finally, a few notices.
Regarding the question of whether the accused X had been captured and
processed by the French navy, the judge said that the German police
had no information, but that the fingerprints had not been checked
yet.
