Malaysia, SKorea seek to charge 12 Somali pirates
Malaysia and South Korea announced plans Tuesday to prosecute 12 captured Somali pirates in what maritime officials praised as a move that might deter the hijacking of ships off East Africa.
Somali pirates apprehended by authorities are often not brought to justice, but merely released after being disarmed, Heraldtribune reports. The international community has often depended on countries like Kenya and the Seychelles in the past to prosecute pirates, who took a record 1,016 hostages for ransom last year.
Naval commandos from Malaysia and South Korea staged separate raids last Friday on a Malaysian chemical tanker and South Korean-operated cargo ship seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea respectively. The commandos overpowered a total of 12 pirates and rescued 44 crew members. Eight pirates were killed by the South Korean team.
Malaysia was transporting seven detainees to Kuala Lumpur and planned to hold them in police custody until investigations into the incident are completed, a federal police spokesman said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.
Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail told The Associated Press he had not decided what charges might be filed. It would be the first trial in Malaysia involving Somali pirates.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok meanwhile said that his country's "stance is to prosecute pirates rather than swapping them" for other fishermen being held by pirates in a separate hijacking case.
Somali pirates apprehended by authorities are often not brought to justice, but merely released after being disarmed, Heraldtribune reports. The international community has often depended on countries like Kenya and the Seychelles in the past to prosecute pirates, who took a record 1,016 hostages for ransom last year.
Naval commandos from Malaysia and South Korea staged separate raids last Friday on a Malaysian chemical tanker and South Korean-operated cargo ship seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea respectively. The commandos overpowered a total of 12 pirates and rescued 44 crew members. Eight pirates were killed by the South Korean team.
Malaysia was transporting seven detainees to Kuala Lumpur and planned to hold them in police custody until investigations into the incident are completed, a federal police spokesman said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.
Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail told The Associated Press he had not decided what charges might be filed. It would be the first trial in Malaysia involving Somali pirates.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok meanwhile said that his country's "stance is to prosecute pirates rather than swapping them" for other fishermen being held by pirates in a separate hijacking case.