Thursday, April 15, 2010
Spokesman for the Hamburg prosecutor's office Wilhelm Moellers said his office had begun extradition procedures for the ten Somalis who were brought to Holland after Dutch commandos captured them earlier this month.
"We have begun the extradition of the ten accused," Moellers said of the pirates, captured on April 5 after a brief battle to free the ship Taipan off the Somali coast.
The trial would be the first of Somali pirates in Germany, and one of few to have occurred in Europe.
"I think chances are very good they will be tried in Germany," said Commander John Harbour, British-based spokesman for the European Union Naval Force Somalia.
"What's new is that they will be sent to the home country of the ship attacked," he added.
European Union navies have captured dozens of pirates, but most have been shipped to Kenya or the Seychelles for prosecution.
Gangs have seized dozens of vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden in recent years. Despite international naval patrols, pirate activity is predicted to rise in coming months as the weather improves.
In their latest attack, pirates seized a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged merchant ship off the coast of the Seychelles on Sunday. (Reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann and Brian Rohan; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall).
Source: Reuters