Tuesday, February 10, 2009
newsinsidAmsterdam/Copenhagen - Deutch authorities confirmed Tuesday they had taken custody of five suspected Somali pirates rescued off the east African coast after they allegedly tried to ambush a Dutch vessel in January.
The five suspected pirates were picked by the Danish navy after the boat under attack fired flares back at the Somalis' vessel, causing it to catch fire and the men to ditch into the sea.
The Danish patrol boat had also fired warning shots at the suspected pirate ship.
Spokesman Wim de Bruin of the Dutch national public prosecutor's office in Rotterdam told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa the suspects, who were handed over in Bahrain, had now arrived in the Netherlands.
De Bruin said that the five will first go before a judge on Wednesday.
'The five are suspected of maritime robbery,' De Bruin said, 'which can lead to a maximum sentence of 9-12 years under Dutch law.'
A later panel of three judges will later rule on how long the men can be held whilst the Dutch public prosecutor prepares its case against them.
The Danish navy vessel Absalon has been deployed in the waters off Somalia since early September, patrolling international shipping lanes in the region, following a spate of high-profile piracy attacks.
The Absalon, which has been used to hold the five men in custody, is now returning to the Gulf of Aden to resume patrols, according to commanding officer Dan Termansen.
The January alleged attack took place against a ship registered in the Dutch Antilles.
A helicopter from the Absalon fired warning shots at the pirates' vessel. The crew of the ship under attack also fired emergency flares which caused the pirate craft to catch fire, forcing the five men to jump into the sea.
The crew of the Absalon then rescued the suspected pirates from the sea and later sank the burning vessel to prevent possible danger to other ships.
Source: dpa, Feb 10, 2009