The three Japanese fishermen who were seized along with their boat by Russian authorities Wednesday morning off Hokkaido have admitted poaching in Russian waters, a source at the military prosecutors office in Vladivostok claimed later in the day.
Skipper Noboru Sakashita, 59, and two other crew members of the 4.9-ton Japanese crab boat Kisshin Maru No. 31 confessed during questioning that they had intruded into Russian territorial waters for purposes of poaching, the source said. Crewman Mitsuhiro Morita, 35, was gunned down by a Russian border patrol boat in what was reportedly supposed to have been a warning shot.
Sakashita will be charged with intruding into Russian waters and poaching, and the two crew members -- Akiyoshi Kawamura, 29, and Haruki Kamiya, 25 -- may be asked to testify in court, the source said.