Dutch prosecutors demand 7-year prison sentences for 5 suspected Somali pirates

Prosecutors demand 7-year sentences for piracy

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday demanded seven-year prison sentences for five Somali men accused of attempting to hijack a cargo ship, in Europe’s first piracy trial stemming from the rising tide of banditry in the Gulf of Aden.

The five suspects were arrested by Danish marines in January 2009 after they tried to board a Dutch Antilles-registered freighter off the coast of Somalia.

They claim they were not hijacking the ship, but asking its crew for food and fuel because their skiff’s engine had been malfunctioning.

At a court hearing Tuesday, most of the suspects claimed they were on a fishing expedition. One said they had set out to hijack ships, but changed their minds when their engine failed and left them drifting for three days.

But prosecutors rejected that claim as not credible and asked judges to sentence each man to seven years. They are charged with the crime of “sea robbery,” which has been on the Dutch books since the 17th century. The maximum sentence is 12 years.

No date has been set for a verdict.

A spokesman for the European Union’s anti-piracy force, Cmdr. Anders Kallin, said Tuesday the trial is unlikely to end piracy in lawless and impoverished Somalia, regardless of the outcome.

“To end piracy you need to have a solution on shore. The problem is in Somalia. And we don’t have permission to go there,” Kallin said.

In Europe, piracy suspects are being held in France, Spain and the Netherlands, but the Dutch are the first to put any on trial.

In the United States, a Somali man pleaded guilty last week to hijacking the U.S.-flagged ship Maersk Alabama on April 8, 2009, and kidnapping its captain. He faces a minimum 27 years in prison.

Kenya has convicted 18 pirates since 2007, and more than 100 others on trial.

In Seychelles, 40 piracy suspects are on trial.