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Rh

A summary of this report, as well as a copy of the minute drawn up by the officer on board of the detained vessel, shall be sent, as soon as possible, to the international information office, which shall communicate the same to the nearest consular or territorial authority of the power whose flag the vessel in question has shown. Duplicates of these documents shall be kept in the archives of the bureau.

If, in performing the acts of supervision mentioned in the preceding articles, the officer in command of the cruiser is convinced that an act connected with the slave-trade has been committed on board during the passnge, or that irrefutable proofs exist against the captain, or fitter-out, for accusing him of fraudulent use of the flag, or fraud, or participation in the slave-trade, he shall conduct the arrested vessel to the nearest port of the zone where there is a competent magistrate of the power whose flag has been used.

Each signatory power engages to appoint in the zone, and to make known to the international information office, the territorial or consular authorities or special delegates who are competent in the above-mentioned cases.

A suspected vessel may also be turned over to a cruiser of its own nation, if the latter consents to take charge of it.

The magistrate referred to in the preceding article, to whom the arrested vessel has been turned over, shall proceed to make a full investigation, according to the laws and rules of his country, in the presence of an officer belonging to the foreign cruiser.

If it is proved by the inquiry that the flag has been fraudulently used, the arrested vessel shall remain at the disposal of its captor.

If the examination shows an act connected with the slave-trade, proved by the presence on board of slaves destined for sale, or any other offense connected with the slave-trade for which provision is made by special convention, the vessel and cargo shall remain sequestrated in charge of the magistrate who shall have conducted the inquiry.

The captain and crew shall be turned over to the tribunals designated by Articles LIV and LVI. The slaves shall be set at liberty as soon as judgment has been pronounced.