Nine pirates sent to prison for 22 years each |18 December 2010

Judge Dodin found nine Somali nationals guilty of three charges of piracy and sentenced them each to 22 years in prison.
The pirates captured the Seychellois fishing boat Galate on March 26 this year, robbing the crew at gunpoint and ordering that the boat be sailed to Somalia.

They set a course using a hand-held GPS device and sailed for over 24 hours before they ran out of fuel. The vessel drifted on the high seas for several hours before the pirates tried to capture another ship.

That attempt failed, but later that day they captured the Iranian ship Al-Ahmadi, again at gunpoint. The pirates refuelled the Galate and directed both captains to sail their vessels to Somalia.

Fortunately, the crew of the Galate had managed to send a distress signal, which was received and acted on by the Seychelles Coast Guard. Both vessels were intercepted by the coast guard vessel Topaz on March 29. At this point the Galate was abandoned, together with the pirates’ attack skiff.

The coast guard officer commanding the Topaz, Captain Simon Laurencine, told the court how he and his crew tried for over nine hours to get the pirates to give up their enterprise and release their hostages.

The pirates ignored all requests and forced the six crew of the Galate to stand on deck as a “human shield”. There was then an exchange of fire between the pirates and the coast guard.

The pirates fired AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades, but the Topaz remained out of range and fired at the Al-Ahmadi below the waterline in an attempt to stop it.

The ship caught fire, and at that point the pirates threw their arms overboard. The Seychellois jumped into the sea and were followed by the Iranian captives and the pirates. All were rescued by the Topaz.

In Port Victoria, the pirates were handed over to the Seychellois police. Later, they each made statements claiming to be innocent fishermen, despite the absence of any evidence to support this contention.

Judge Dodin, having heard detailed and consistent accounts from the prosecution witnesses, rejected that claim and found all nine men guilty of the three charges of piracy.

For taking the Al-Ahmadi by force, the court imposed a sentence of 11 years; for taking the Galate, robbing the crew and holding them hostage the pirates were given a further 11 years to run consecutively; and for firing on the Topaz a further 10 years to run concurrently, meaning each will serve a total of 22 years. 

Giving his reaction to the sentences, the UK’s Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham said such prosecutions show there will be serious consequences for the actions of pirates.

"I would like to congratulate Seychelles for securing this prompt conviction. It is also a good example of how the international community can work together to tackle this issue,” he said.

“The cooperation between the Seychelles Coast Guard and EU-Navfor continues to prove very effective.”