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The 25 Chinese fishermen will be released on Wednesday April 18 after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges. The defendants pled guilty to one count each of unlawful entry and illegal fishing without a permit the remaining charges were all dismissed.
Upon entering into a plea agreement with the Palau government, the defendants were sentenced to 17 days of jail time with credit for time served, each pay a $1,000 fine totaling $25,000, forfeit all of their fishing equipment, which had been sunk when the fishermen set their own boat on fire, and depart the Republic of Palau on Wednesday. According to the court order, the defendants will be released from jail three hours prior to their scheduled chartered flight back to Mainland China.
Information from Palau’s Clerk of Courts confirms that all 25 defendants paid their fines in full on Monday April 16. Additionally, the required departure tax and green fee payment will be deducted from the defendants $1,000 fine.
The original 120 charges filed by Palaus Attorney General threatened the 25 defendants with a maximum penalty of over $10 million in fines and over 100 years of cumulative jail time. Under preasure from the Chinese government the Palau government is releasing the fellons with total fines of $23,875 and total cumulative time served of 400 days.
The Chinese fishermen will remain in Koror jail until a representative from the Attorney General’s Office informs the jail of their release. Upon their release, the 25 fishermen will be escorted by Palau’s law enforcement officers directly to Palau’s International Airport.
The two Palauan police officers and an American Pilot lost in the investigation have been missing and are presumed dead after their plane ditched when a navigational instrument failure resulted in the plane running out of fuel somewhere over Palau waters more than two weeks ago. A massive search and rescue which included Palau resources, the U.S. coast guard and two helicopters from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allens yacht the Octopus found no trace of the missing plane or her passengers.
Meanwhile, the family of the Chinese fishermen who died from a gunshot wound attained by a Palauan police officer during the chase when the fishing boat tried to ram the officers vessel is demanding compensation from the government. A member of the family stated that the Palau government is fully responsible.