Should We Make Somali Pirates Walk the Gangplank?
Remember not too long ago when a Russian naval vessel rescued the crew of a ship that had been taken over by pirates? And then the Russians decided to let the pirates go rather than prosecute them? Here's something I didn't know:
Theoretically, the captain was supposed to hand the detainees and the evidence over to regional police. Not wanting to involve himself in legal wrangling, however, he decided to "release" the pirates instead. And thus they were "set free" in a tiny inflatable raft, with no navigation equipment, 350 miles off the coast of Yemen. The raft has since disappeared. In the 21st century, this is how pirates walk the plank.
Damn.