ST. PETERSBURG, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - The defense lawyer for two of the alleged hijackers, arrested aboard the Arctic Sea last week, said on Tuesday that there has been no mention of arms trafficking in the court files.
Press speculation on the mystery surrounding the Arctic Sea's disappearance has been rife with some media saying that Russian authorities are trying to cover up a smuggling or trafficking operation. Moscow-based columnist Yulia Latynina speculated that the vessel was secretly shipping arms via Algeria to a rogue state like Iran or Syria.
Other reports suggested that the Arctic Sea was hiding a second, smaller vessel while sailing off Sweden's east coast.
Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin has dismissed such allegations as "fantastic" and "ridiculous."
"There is no mention of [illegal] arms," Konstantin Boronovsky said in an interview with Radio Ekho Moskvy, responding to a listener's question of whether the bulk carrier had been involved in an arms smuggling operation.
He stressed, however, that he could only cite the files that he had actually read.
Last Friday, Moscow's Basmanny District Court remanded in custody eight unemployed men from Estonia in the case. All eight deny accusations of piracy and hostage-taking.
Boronovsky's clients formally appealed their arrest on Tuesday.
The Arctic Sea crewmembers are also reportedly in custody amid speculation that they may have been in cahoots with the alleged hijackers.
Meanwhile, some media reports have dismissed the hijacking theory as a ploy.
The Maltese-flagged vessel, which had been missing in the Atlantic for more than two weeks, was discovered off Cape Verde last Monday by a Russian warship.
