RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) The federal prosecutor’s office says it’s investigating allegations of racism, torture and attempted murder after a Cameroonian stowaway was found floating several miles off the Brazilian coast.
The prosecutor’s office is looking into claims by the man from the African country of Cameroon, whose name was not released. The man says he was roughed up by the crew of the Malta-registered cargo ship and held for days in a tiny room before being forced off the ship in open waters.
The prosecutor’s office said in a Thursday statement that the man claims that he clung for about 11 hours to a wooden shipping pallet an estimated eight nautical miles off the Brazilian coast before he was picked up by another vessel.
The ship’s crew of Turkish nationals must remain in the southern Brazilian city of Paranagua pending the results of the investigation.
http://www2.counton2.com/news/2012/jul/27/brazil-investigates-stowaways-torture-claims-ar-4221986/
