By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – Seventeen Filipino ship workers charged with stealing fuel were acquitted by a Qatar criminal court.
The Philippine Embassy in Doha said the Filipinos were repatriated after the Court of First Instance ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove their guilt.
During the trial, it was pointed out that the value of fuel allegedly stolen amounted to QAR3.8 million (roughly P45.5 million).
In a separate complaint from a former officer of the ship, the price of the “stolen” fuel was pegged at QAR15 million (around P179.8 million).
The accused Filipinos denied the charges outright and maintained they did not know about the issue and did not steal anything.
They were accommodated by Philippine Overseas Labor Office and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) officers while awaiting the verdict.
The court noted that although the company cited a report which said fuel consumption of the ship had doubled than its normal usage during a certain period of time, it failed to prove the “excess fuel” was stolen by the accused.
Not guilty verdicts were initially issued for 10 of the seafarers as they were only part of the ship’s crew working as chef and maintenance staff usually replaced every 45 days.
The court subsequently issued another verdict acquitting the other seven seafarers who were mostly officers on the ship.
The complaint against three others was dismissed at the prosecution level and failed to reach the court./PN
