The Galician sailor
Pablo Costas,
who had been held in
Yemen
since September last year on a charge of alleged illegal fishing, has been released in the last hours, as sources from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and the family
have confirmed to Europa Press
.
Thus, Foreign Affairs have reported the release of Pablo Costas,
Bueu (Pontevedra)
fishing
master,
and have indicated that this measure has been possible thanks to the efforts not only of the ministry, but "of the minister himself
(José Manuel Albares)
personally".
Pablo's brother,
Víctor,
as well as sources from
the CUT union,
have explained that the sailor has already left the ship, along with other crewmates, and is in a hotel in
Al Mukallah.
However, and although they have already returned his passport, at the moment there is no specific date for the return to
Galicia.
The CUT spokesman,
Manolo Camaño,
has welcomed the news of the release of Pablo Costas, and has explained to Europa Press that they are now "pending" to "process the plane tickets", taking into account the difficulties of a country "at war" like Yemen and limitations on air travel.
As he has indicated, the initial forecast is that a "security convoy" can be provided so that the sailor can travel from the port of Al Mukallah to the airport, some 270 kilometers away.
Once there he would fly to
Cairo (Egypt)
and then to
Madrid.
DETENTION
Pablo Costas' odyssey began in
July 2020,
when the fishing vessel he works on, the
'Cobija'
(Bolivian flag) was subjected to an inspection in the Indian Ocean by the Australian authorities.
That inspection confirmed that "everything was fine", according to the CUT, but, while still at sea,
the ship was sold to a Somali shipowner,
who ordered it to sail to Yemen.
In September, and already in Al Mukallah, Pablo Costas was informed of an arrest warrant by
Interpol
and issued by
Australia,
accusing him of a crime of illegal fishing.
Thus, the sailor was sentenced to three months' arrest and, after serving them, the prosecutor filed an appeal to stop his repatriation.
Over the last few months, the CUT and his family (who have organized several rallies to request repatriation, the last one this Saturday) have denounced the situation in which Pablo and his companions were "kidnapped" on the ship, arriving in the last weeks to be without food, nor sanitary attention, in spite of the "unsanitary" conditions that they had.
Likewise, they have also criticized that, in these 11 months, they have not been provided legal assistance or translators, and "they are formally unaware of the charges against them."
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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