ABSTRACT
In May 2010, various media reported that a Russian naval vessel had seized a group of Somali pirates after they allegedly had tried to attack a Russian-owned vessel. According to the reports, the pirates were, due to a ‘lack of legal basis’, ‘released’ from custody in a small boat without means of navigation, some 300 nautical miles (about 600 km) from shore. After the incident, Russian officials declared that they expected the pirates were lost at sea.2 In this context, a Russian military official was quoted as asking: ‘Why should we feed a group of pirates?’3 The Russian president at that time, Dmitry Medvedev, called for ‘international authorities’ who could deal with similar situations in the future, and he concluded: ‘But until then we have to treat them like our ancestors did in the old days – and you do understand well, what I mean.’4
