MANILA: The Philippines apologized Thursday and promised compensation for two Vietnamese fishermen killed by its naval personnel during an anti-poaching operation at sea.
Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana made the apology in a meeting with Vietnam’s Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich as the two Southeast Asian neighbors discussed ways to improve cooperation, especially in naval matters.
“Secretary Lorenzana also relayed President Rodrigo Duterte’s assurance that the families of the Vietnamese fishermen who died in the incident will be properly compensated,” a defense department statement said.
It did not say how much the compensation would be.
The two Vietnamese fishermen were found dead with gunshot wounds and five others were arrested after the Philippine navy chased and caught up with suspected poachers in the South China Sea last month.
Foreign fishermen have often been caught trespassing in Philippine waters. Last year President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the release of 17 Vietnamese fishermen caught in his nation’s waters.
In 2013 the Philippines apologized to Taiwan over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by Filipino coast guards who said his vessel had illegally sailed into local waters.
Philippines promises compensation for two slain Vietnamese fishermen
Philippines promises compensation for two slain Vietnamese fishermen
British serial killer ‘Suffolk Strangler’ pleads guilty to 1999 murder
- Steve Wright, who is already serving a life sentence with no prospect of parole for killing the women in 2006, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court
LONDON: A British serial killer dubbed the “Suffolk Strangler” by the media after he killed five young women two decades ago pleaded guilty on Monday to another murder from 27 years ago.
Steve Wright, who is already serving a life sentence with no prospect of parole for killing the women in 2006, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court and admitted kidnapping and murdering 17-year-old Victoria Hall in 1999.
Wright, 67, also pleaded guilty to the attempted kidnap of a 22-year-old woman the day before Hall’s murder. He will be sentenced on Friday.
“Justice has finally been achieved for Victoria Hall after 26 years,” Samantha Woolley from the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
Wright was convicted in 2008 of the murder of five women who worked as prostitutes in the town of Ipswich, northeast of London in Suffolk. Wright left two of the bodies in a crucifix position with arms outstretched.
He was give a whole-life order, meaning he could never be released from prison, for what the sentencing judge described as “a targeted campaign of murder.”
Wright had consistently denied the allegations even though his DNA was found on three of the victims and bloodstains from two of them were found on his jacket at his home. His victims’ bodies were found in the space of just 10 days around Ipswich.
