Taipei, Feb. 23 (CNA) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) on Tuesday appointed Su Wei-ta, a chief prosecutor at the Kaohsiung Prosecutor's Office, to handle a case involving two deaths aboard a Taiwan fishing boat.
Su, who has previous experience of this type of case through his work on the controversial Maersk Dubai case in 1996, said he will immediately start collecting evidence related to the alleged killing of two mainland Chinese crewmen by the captain of the Chin Ching No.12 on Feb. 16 when the ship was operating in the Indian Ocean some 1,000 nautical miles northwest of Mauritius.
If necessary, Su said, he will travel to Mauritius to collect first-hand information about the case, in which 13 other mainland sailors are said to have been panicked by Captain Kung Tai-an's shooting rampage into jumping overboard.
"Even though the suspect has not yet been repatriated, I'll start working on the case," Su said, adding that he has asked local police authorities to furnish him with transcriptions of police interviews with Chin Ching Fishing Co. executives for reference.
Meanwhile, Vice Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu reiterated that the Republic of China has full jurisdiction over the case in accordance with international law, as the incident took place aboard a Taiwan-registered vessel and the suspect is an ROC national.
Some local observers said there might be some difficulty in obtaining the captain's repatriation, because Mauritius recognizes Beijing, not Taipei, and because all 15 of the dead and missing crewmen are mainland Chinese nationals.
A senior official at mainland China's embassy in Mauritius has reportedly expressed Beijing's concern to Mauritius authorities over the issue. According to local press reports, Beijing may claim jurisdiction over the case and ask Mauritius to extradite the suspect to the mainland for trial.
Foreign Minister Jason Hu said he hopes Mauritius will handle the case strictly in accordance with the law, and will avoid allowing political forces to influence its decision. "We also hope the mainland authorities will fully adhere to international regulations governing this kind of case, and understand our determination to handle the case in a just and impartial manner," Hu said, adding that the ROC does not wish to become embroiled in political wrangling over the incident.
A legal affairs official with the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said the relevant government authorities should also send a lawyer to Mauritius to study its regulations governing the repatriation or extradition of criminal suspects.
Acceding that Mauritius has the right to decide on whom to hand over jurisdiction of the case -- Taiwan or mainland China -- the official said Taiwan should negotiate with Mauritius, not mainland China, for the return of the suspect for trial.
According to international law, the country where a crime takes place has priority over the right to demand extradition of the suspect; followed by the country to which the suspect belongs; and finally the country to which the victim belongs.
"In the Chin Ching case, the ROC has priority jurisdiction because the shooting took place on a Taiwan fishing boat, which is seen as the ROC's floating territory," the MAC official said.
Chin Ching captain Kung Tai-an, 42, has been taken into custody by Mauritius police, and the nine surviving crew members, including four from Taiwan, three from mainland China and two from the Philippines, have also been detained separately for questioning. The ship has been docked at Mauritius' Port Louis since Feb. 20 while the fate of the 13 mainland sailors who jumped ship in panic remain unclear.
A spokesman for Chin Ching Fishing Co., owner of the ship, said two senior company executives already arrived in Port Louis on Tuesday to handle relevant affairs. "As far as we know only the captain was involved in the case. We hope Mauritius will allow other crewmen and our ship to leave for home as soon as possible," the spokesman said.
According to press reports, the shipboard killings might be related to mainland sailors' demand for pay raises and their refusal to work in recent weeks on grounds that their contracts had expired.
The 490-ton tuna fishing boat left Kaohsiung for operations in the Indian Ocean on Feb. 20, 1996.
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