KENYA: 13 Somali pirates captured by the Spanish navy appear in Court in of Mombasa / Seafarers assistance official cleared of incitement charges

Record ID: 360619

  • Title: KENYA: 13 Somali pirates captured by the Spanish navy appear in Court in of Mombasa / Seafarers assistance official cleared of incitement charges
  • Date: 19th May 2009
  • Summary: MOMBASA, KENYA (MAY 17, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MOMBASA LAW COURTS VEHICLES CARRYING PIRATES ARRIVING AT COURT PIRATES DISEMBARKING UNDER ARMED GUARD VARIOUS OF KENYA POLICE ESCORTING PIRATES INTO COURT CHIEF MAGISTRATE CATHERINE MWANGI SEATED IN COURTROOM VARIOUS OF PIRATES IN DOCK CLOSE OF PIRATES MOMBASA, KENYA (MAY 18, 2009) (REUTERS) ANDREW MWANGURA, SEA
  • Embargoed: 3rd June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVADWXLXZ4K2EDWT6E6Q2J34HEBN
  • Story Text: 13 pirates, captured by the Spanish navy, appear in Magistrate Court in the Kenyan port town of Mombasa. In a separate trial, court clears a seafarers assistance official of incitement charges.
    13 pirates appeared at a Kenyan Magistrate Court on Monday (May 18) in the port town of Mombasa after they were captured by the Spanish navy last week.
    The Somali nationals were arrested after an alleged attempt to hijack a Panamanian flagged marine vessel off the Somali coast on May 6.
    The Spanish navy seized the men, who were using small boats, hundreds of kilometres off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.
    The men were taken to the Kenyan port city of Mombasa aboard the Spanish Naval ship, dubbed the Marques De La Ensenada, which is part of the European Union Naval force - EUNAVFOR that patrols the waters off the chaotic horn of Africa countries.
    The suspects were charged with an attempt to attack a ship, while armed with offensive weapons including AK 47 rifles and RPG7 launchers.
    They were not required to plead.
    There are currently 64 pirates being held in Mombasa's Shimo la Tewa prisons. They will be tried in Kenyan courts and jailed if convicted due to a lack of a functioning justice system in Somalia.
    In a separate Mombasa court, Andrew Mwangura, the chairman of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Mission - an organisation that assists marine workers, had charges against him dropped and he was set free.
    Mwangura, who is normally gets wind of ships being hijacked off the Somali coast through his anti-piracy network, had been charged with "making inflammatory statements" after saying last year that the hijacked Ukrainian ship the MV Faina had been carrying weapons for southern Sudan, to pass via Kenya in contravention of a UN arms embargo against Sudan.
    "I feel great and I think it's a great honour to our campaign and we shall continue doing what we have been doing, and that's... in short - A Luta Continua (PORTUGUESE FOR 'THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES')," said the overjoyed Mwangura as he left the court.
    Heavily-armed Somali pirates have stepped up their attacks on vessels in Indian Ocean shipping lanes and the Gulf of Aden, capturing dozens of vessels, kidnapping hundreds of hostages and raking in millions of dollars in ransoms.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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