First European pirate trial sets sail
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Trying alleged Somali pirates has caused all sorts of jurisdictional headaches for prosecutors around the world. Today, however, the Netherlands became the first European country to try suspected pirates. The five are accused of attacking a cargo ship from the Dutch Antilles.
The suspects, all of whom deny committing the crimes, were arrested on the Gulf of Aden last year, when a Danish frigate intercepted their vessel as they were allegedly preparing to board the cargo ship Samanyolu.
Dutch authorities issued European arrest warrants for the men shortly after they were captured, at which point they were flown from Bahrain to the Netherlands. The men have spent over a year in Dutch custody awaiting trial.
"I committed no crime. I did not attack anyone. I did not do anything," one of the accused, Abdirisaq Abdulahi Hirsi, told the Rotterdam district court today.
The defence will challenge the court’s jurisdiction as the cargo ship was flying under the flag of the Dutch Antilles, which has its own justice system.
While the trial is the first of its kind in Europe, other Somali’s have been tried in courtrooms around the world on charges of piracy. Only last week six Somali pirates were sentenced to death in Yemen, while in New York another pirate faces up to 27 years in jail after pleading guilty to seizing a US boat and kidnapping its captain.
The Dutch trial is expected to last five days, with a verdict due next month.
