A group of suspected Somali pirates who were seized by Dutch marines on April 5 after they hijacked a German container ship could face trial in Hamburg. The 10 men are being flown to the Netherlands, where they could quickly be extradited to Germany.
The Dutch military were on Wednesday transporting 10 suspected Somali pirates to Europe, where they could face trial in Germany in what would be a legal first.
On Wednesday morning, the Dutch warship Tromp arrived in the port of Djibouti, in the country of the same name. It handed over the Somali suspects, who were captured by elite Dutch marines on April 5 as they allegedly attempted to hijack the German cargo ship MS Taipan, to Dutch military police who had traveled there especially from the Netherlands.
The military police immediately took the suspects to the airport, where a DC-10 military aircraft was waiting for takeoff. The suspected pirates are expected to arrive at a military base in the Netherlands on Wednesday evening, where they will be handed over to Dutch judicial officials.
The Dutch authorities want to extradite the suspects to Germany as quickly as possible after their arrival in the Netherlands. The regional court in Hamburg has issued European arrest warrants for the men, and the suspects are expected to face trial there.
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Perhaps these pirates need to be handled the same way the British Navy did in Halifax centuries ago. Tried convicted and hung. But back in the 1700′s the British took it one step further. They hung the convicted pirates (and deserters) on McNab’s Island on a point of land jutting out into the entrance to Halifax harbour. This piece of land is still locally referred to as it was back then, Hangman’s Beach. The bodies were left hanging in full view as an example to the crews of ships both navy and civilian entering and leaving the harbour. In order to gain maximum exposure the bodies were left until they rotted and either fell off the gallows and/or were consumed by sea gulls. Way back then, and despite the absence of communications beyond the line of sight, word spread like wildfire that a career in piracy could end on Hangman’s Beach. An effective deterrant? You be the judge. Hmmmmmmm……..Mogadishu also has a harbour.