Japanese skipper handed over from Russia

A Japanese skipper, who has been under Russian custody for nearly seven weeks for intruding into and poaching in disputed waters, was handed over to Japan on Tuesday, Kyodo News reported.

Noboru Sakashita left for home after the hand-over on Tuesday morning. The 59-year-old man accepted a Russian court ruling which ordered that he pay a 500,000 ruble (about 12,700 U.S. dollars) fine and his 4.9-ton fishing boat be seized.

The ruling was made by Russia's South Kuril District Court on September 21 in Yuzhno-Kurilsk on Russian-administered Kunashiri Island, the report said.

On August 16, the Russian border guard caught the crab fishing boat with four men on board operating in waters around one of the disputed islands known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.

The Russian border patrol unit fired at the boat, leading to the death of Japanese crewman Mitsuhiro Morita. The Russian authorities took Sakashita and the two other crewmen into custody for alleged illegal fishing in Russian waters.

The other two crewmen were handed back to Japan on Aug. 30. The body of the dead crewman was returned shortly after the boat was seized.

Source: Xinhua