MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Eleven Russian sailors arrested for oil smuggling are expected to be released on bail by a Nigerian court Friday.
"The court's written ruling on the release will be issued on August 5 and go into effect after the embassy has provided the necessary documents," Russian Foreign Ministry Official Boris Malakhov said Friday.
The court released the sailors from custody on Thursday.
"The Russian Embassy in Nigeria has been ordered to provide the necessary guarantees to the Nigerian authorities - the sailors must not leave Nigerian territory until investigations are concluded," said Malakhov. Bail is estimated to be set at $12,000 per sailor.
The decision of the Nigerian court is "the result of numerous requests from the Russian Foreign Ministry to take measures to speed up the trial process," he said.
The African Pride tanker, on which the sailors traveled to Nigeria, was stopped on October 8, 2003 by a Nigerian patrol boat 31 miles from the Nigerian shoreline. Authorities found more than 11,000 metric tons of crude oil on board. The crew was arrested for smuggling placed in a high-security prison. The tanker's owner (a Greek citizen), who was not on board at the time of the arrest, managed to illegally take the vessel out of the country.
Official charges against the sailors were made five months after their arrest in March 2004. After much protest from the Russian Foreign Ministry, relatives of the sailors, and members of the public, they were transferred to a standard prison.
The court's decision had previously been expected in September.
