Indian fishermen from Jubail freed by Iranians after 9-month ordeal

Nineteen Indian fishermen, who have been languishing in Iranian jail for the past nine months, have been released and will be arriving in Mumbai today.
They include 16 fishermen from the Kanyakumari and Ramnad districts in Tamil Nadu and three from Kerala.
The fishermen, who had set out in four boats for fishing from Jubail, Saudi Arabia, were arrested by the Iranian Coast Guard Dec. 16 last, for allegedly straying into Iranian waters.
Diplomatic moves following recent the media outcry over their arrest led to securing their release.
The Indian Embassy in Tehran has issued the fishermen with emergency certificates since they were not in possession of their passports when they were arrested.
Confirming their release, Sibi George, deputy chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, said their exit had been stamped and that the fishermen are scheduled to leave Tehran at 7 a.m. local time today on an Iran Air flight from Tehran, reaching Mumbai at 11:50 a.m. local time.
The Non–Resident Keralites Affairs Department (Norka) and the Tamil Nadu state government have deputed representatives to welcome them at Mumbai airport and to make arrangements for their onward journey to their respective places of residence.
The released fishermen are: Sayibu Mappilai Swamy, Kaliappan Muthu, Kali Kannadhasan, Chrispinraj Premkumar, Umaselvam Allimuthu, Mayakrishnan Malaimurugan, Mayapandi Myladi, Muthu Dharmaiya Gani, Vimal Raj Adaikalam, Antony Suresh, Arockia Kebin Raj, Sahaya Michael Antony, Angelo Rabbel (Sunil), Jeyaseelan Pani Adimai, Raja Karuppaiha and Sesu Ponnusamy, all from Tamil Nadu, and Mohamed Kasim, Koya and Abdulla Koya Valappil from Nalappuram in Kerala, a statement released by KMCC Jubail, said.
All 19 fishermen were involved in fishing activities and have been based in Jubail for years. They set out on boats owned by Khaleel Ibrahim Al-Bunain, Fahad Ibrahim Al-Bunain, Abdulla Abda Al-Khatar and Ahmed Jassim, but were detained by the Iranian Coast Guard for allegedly straying into Iranian waters while fishing.
M. Shamsuddeen Chettippadi, a social worker affiliated with KMCC Jubail, raised the issue at an Open Forum organized by the Indian Ambassador at Dammam, which in turn brought the issue to the media's attention.
Families of the 16 fishermen from Tamil Nadu approached the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu through community leader Karuna Murthy and South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF) leader Fr. Churchill, seeking their release.
The Tamil Nadu government granted a Rs 100,000 relief to each of the families of the 16 fishermen from that state.
Shamsuddin and Kutty Ahmed Kutty, a former MLA of the Indian Union Muslim League, arranged for the three families to meet the Chief Minister of Kerala to request assistance for their release. Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust (TN FIDET) Founder President Dr. P. Justin Antony also approached UN bodies seeking assistance for the release.
Doha-based Advocate Nisar Kochery, coordinator of SAFF, Gulf region, visited Iran on September 9 and discussed the matter with Indian Ambassador to Iran, A N Srivastava.

He also met Iranian officials and told Arab News that the Iranian government had expressed its willingness to release the fishermen without any penalty.
Families of the fishermen expressed gratitude to the Indian Embassies in Iran and Saudi Arabia, especially Sibi George, the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and all other social activists for the initiatives they took to ensure the release of the fishermen. The families also thanked Nizar Kochery, legal adviser to SAFF, for traveling to Iran to secure the release of the fishermen and their subsequent repatriation.