Thirty-five fishermen arrived in Egypt on Saturday from Saudi Arabia, where they had been detained for violating the kingdom’s territorial waters.
“The fishermen were released after a 50-day detention in Saudi Arabia on the background of unlicensed fishing in the Saudi territorial waters,” a maritime source told Anadolu Agency.
For his part, Bakri Abul-Hassan, the head of the fishermen’s syndicate in the canal city of Suez, said Saudi authorities had fined the ship carrying the fishermen $4000 for violating Saudi Arabia’s territorial waters on February 21.
The fishermen were released after they paid the fine, he said.
Abul-Hassan said two fishermen headed to the Suez prosecution to deliver their accounts about their detention in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia had detained 65 Egyptian fishermen on board of two Egyptian fishing boats in late February for fishing in its territorial waters without authorization.
Saudi authorities released 30 fishermen on March 21.
Worldbulletin News