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Αθώος ο κατηγορούμενος ναυτικός (έτσι για αλλαγή)


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CHIEF engineer Ioannis Mylonakis’ 15-month magic pipe ordeal in the US has ended in honourable acquittal, after a federal jury in Houston returned not guilty verdicts on all five counts levelled against him by US prosecutors. Mr Mylonakis’ legal team said he was the first seafarer to defy the US legal system by pleading not guilty in such a case, and to be exonerated of all blame after his employer pleaded guilty and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors in their case against him.

As Lloyd’s List reported two weeks ago, Mr Mylonakis’ employer, Styga Compania Naviera of Piraeus, which owns the tanker Georgios M implicated in the case, averted a trial for itself by cutting a guilty plea and paying a $1m criminal fine. Part of Styga’s agreement was to “co-operate with the US government” in its prosecution of Mr Mylonakis, who has been housed in motels in the Houston area since February 2009.

Mr Mylonakis’ lawyer, George Chalos, told Lloyd’s List that the Greek seafarer was now actively considering taking his employer to court. Mr Mylonakis, with a 30-year seafaring career, said in an exclusive telephone interview: “My first thought right now is that I am free. I feel as if I am born again. Even in the difficult times in which we live, truth has shined.

“I look forward to meeting my wife and my 15-year-old girl, whom I have not seen for almost 15 months. They have gone through the same thing there as I suffered here.” Mr Mylonakis did not directly address legal action against Styga but said: “I am a poor man and will remain one, but I will not allow anyone who has the economic margin of comfort to step on my dignity and that of my family.”

The Georgios M case was triggered by Filipino crewmembers blowing the whistle during a port call in Texas City in February 2009. The case unearthed several fault lines that run under such prosecutions, including owners’ and seafarers’ reluctance to face trials by pleading not guilty, the Filipino versus European phenomenon and the prospect of seafarers from poor countries obtaining significant whistleblower rewards as provided by US law.

In Mr Mylonakis’ eight-day trial, eight seafarers (two whistleblowers and six others, including the master) testified against him, trying to establish that he had ordered the use of a magic pipe to illegally discharge bilge into the sea. The Filipino crew were all granted immunity in return for their testimony.

Lead defence counsel Joel Androphy of Houston law firm Berg & Androphy said: “There was nothing new in the government manipulating witnesses. What was extraordinary was that the jury saw through the intellectual smoke and mirrors. Perhaps it was the witnesses’ potential for rewards and immunity that left them unimpressed, but jurors found Mr Mylonakis not guilty.”

The defence team said that during the trial, Judge Kenneth Hoyt threw out the testimony of a US Coast Guard marine safety lab expert as “confusing and irrelevant”.

In addition, a Filipino crew witness who had alerted the government separately in February 2006 about alleged prior illegal discharges testified it was done “as revenge” against another former company official.

Mr Chalos added: “This ruling is very big indeed, for the entire maritime industry. It confirms that the tendency to be afraid of the government and simply plead guilty is ill advised. The government talks about fair treatment of seafarers, but this case underscores its failure to treat its own evidence objectively.

“The strong message here is that no one in such cases should plead guilty just because the government says so.”

Mr Chalos said of Styga: “[The company] pleaded guilty, blamed our client without good cause and threw him under the bus for its own benefit.

“I will be in Greece soon and expect to see the Mamidakis brothers [styga’s owners]. They have an awful lot of explaining to do, and better start preparing to make up for their absurd actions and the damage they have caused the Mylonakis family.” Mr Mylonakis said it was too early to talk about his future as a seaman, and that it would take him “time to regain his trust in people”.

Nevertheless, he said of the Filipinos who testified against him: “I do feel sorry for them. If it was their own poverty that brought them to this point, I respect that too.”

Πηγή η σημερινή Lloyd's List

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Για να κανουμε μια σούμα του τι διαβάσαμε παραπάνω, προκειται για μια περιπτωση που ο Α' Μηχανικος ενος ελληνόκτητου πλοιου(πλοιοκτήτης Μαμιδάκης) συνελήφθη απο τις Αμερικανικές Αρχές οταν διεπιστώθη οτι το πλοίο διέθετε magic pipe. Για περισσότερες πληροφοριες σχετικα με το τι ειναι το magic pipe, μπορειτε να δειτε το λινκ, με λιγα λογια προκειται για ενα τεχνασμα ωστε ενα πλοιο να αποκρύψει απο τους επιθεωρητες καυσιμων την πραγματικη ποσοτητα των καυσιμων που μεταφερει.

Το εντυπωσιακο της υποθεσης ειναι οτι ο Ελληνας ναυτικος δεν ομολογησε την υποτιθεμενη πραξη του ωστε να εξασφαλισει μια πιο επιεικη μεταχειρηση απο την Αμερικανικη δικαιοσυνη αλλα πολεμησε και τελικα δικαιωθηκε. Και μαλιστα σκεφτεται ακομα και να μυνησει τους πλοιοκτητες(που παραδεχθηκαν την ενοχη τους στις Αμερικανικες Αρχες)! Ο συγκεκριμενος ανθρωπος του οποιου η εξοδος απο τις ΗΠΑ ειχε απαγορευθει, εμεινε 15 μηνες στην περιοχη μεχρι να καταληξει η δικαστικη του περιπετεια.

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